Ranma vs. The World! Complete!
by ContraBardus
Summary: Ranma is defeated by a mysterious warrior. Now both him and Ryoga seek out the power that beat him. A Ranma 1/2 Street Fighter crossover!
1. Default Chapter

Ranma1/2/Street fighter: Ranma vs. the world.  
  
Ranma is owned by Rumiko Takahashi and Vis video [in the U.S.] Capcom  
owns street fighter and all related characters.  
  
Part one. The legend of the Hadouken.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sneered at the man before him. To him he was just another way to  
pay for his dealings with Nabiki. In the ring of Nerima he had reigned  
supreme for almost seven months now. "You look like you might put up a  
fight," said Ranma.  
  
The man only put up his hands.  
  
"Karate." noted Ranma in his mind after seeing the man's stance.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga Hibiki stood in the crowd with a frown on his face. He and Ranma  
often met here. This was a regular stop in Ryoga's travels; he was  
well known and respected here, but still not as much as Ranma. The  
pair had a sort of peace treaty for the empty warehouse. He and Ranma  
had many unofficial battles in the large dirt ring. Ryoga had even  
seen Mousse there occasionally, but accept for one or two battles with  
himself and Ranma, Mousse was a spectator.  
  
The large abandoned warehouse was relatively small; it was only a  
short walk from the dojo. Ranma was here all the time, Ryoga doubted  
if the residents of the Tendo dojo knew about Ranma's little hobby. He  
wondered if his own father even knew about it. This was the real  
reason Ranma was so often sleeping peacefully when it came time to  
wake.  
  
Ryoga's question was answered when he spotted Genma in the crowd,  
sitting comfortably beside Cologne and Happosai. "This place makes for  
some strange peace treaties," thought the lost boy. He looked at Ranma  
who stood confidently across from his opponent. "I wonder if he even  
knows?" said Ryoga aloud. "The poor idiot is going to get his ass  
kicked."  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma watched the martial artist carefully; and the two circled each  
other warily. He was no stranger to this situation; he and his father  
frequented the street fighting arena's all over China and Japan during  
the days that they were traveling. Usually only betting until Ranma  
was old enough to step in the ring. Most of them were holes, rat  
ridden second class arenas that served as entertainment for the  
locals, but this, this was one of the more famous arenas. It was often  
visited by some of the best fighters around. Ranma had defeated many  
foreigners here.  
  
Ranma sped up to his opponent and threw a punch at him with his  
trademark blinding speed. The man blocked his punch and hit him dead  
in the face; the boy was sent sprawling to the ground. Ranma stood and  
blinked; He put his hand up to his nose and wiped the blood off. "This  
is going to be harder than I thought."  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Nabiki watched the fight from her special table. Her young friends sat  
next to her and frowned. "You guy's bet on Ranma didn't you?" she said  
with a smile. The two girls looked at her with shocked expressions.  
  
"You didn't?" asked one of them.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Tatsumaki sempu kayaku!" cried the man.  
  
Ranma reeled back as the man performed some kind of spinning kick that  
knocked him flat on his back, after landing three blows to his face.  
"That does it," he muttered. Ranma rushed at the man angrily "Eat  
this! Katsu tenshin amaguriken!" Ranma did the chestnut fist only to  
find the man kept just out of range of his blows. He growled in  
frustration.  
  
Ranma's opponent patiently stood back and waited for Ranma to rush him  
again. Ranma gritted his teeth. "So you want to play keep away huh?"  
he said to the man who wordlessly stood waiting. "Lets see you back  
away from this! Moukou takabishi!" Ranma unleashed his chi attack and  
most of the crowd fell silent with wonder, he had never used it in the  
arena before.  
  
"He must be worse off than he looks if he did that," said Ryoga calmly  
as he watched.  
  
Ranma half expected the man to side stop or duck out of the way of the  
blast, but what he did he wasn't expecting. "Hadoken!" Ranma watched  
helplessly as the man's chi blast cut through the Mokou Takabishi like  
it wasn't even there.  
  
"Wha?" was all Ranma could say as the Hadoken blasted him in the  
chest. He saw the world flash bright blue and felt the familiar  
burning of a chi attack, only this was more powerful than any he had  
ever felt, even more than Herb's blasts. His sight returned slowly and  
he saw a blur approaching him, he punched out to defend himself.  
  
"Shoryuken!"  
  
The man stood over Ranma as he lay on the ground struggling to get up.  
Ranma finally fell after getting only to his knees. "That was the best  
fight I've had in a while, I look forward to our next battle. You  
should learn to be more patient, I may have lost if you were," said  
the man before turning away.  
Ranma's world went black...  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
"Wake up son in law," said a familiar voice. Ranma grimaced as he rose  
to see Cologne staring at him.  
  
"AAAAUUUGGHHH!!" he cried in revulsion and surprise.  
  
Ranma looked around as his memories flooded back to him, he was in the  
middle of a small room that served as a sort of infirmary for the  
arena. "I lost?" he said looking at his hands.  
  
"Well it looks like I made some money tonight," said Ryoga from his  
chair in the corner. "You don't even know who that was, do you Ranma?"  
he said with an arrogant smirk.  
  
"Wha?" said Ranma clutching his chest in pain.  
  
"The man you fought was Ryu, that's the guy who beat Sagat, the Mui  
Tai champ, a few years back," said Nabiki from the other side of the  
room.  
  
"Yes, and he used a most powerful technique," said Cologne.  
  
"What was that thing ghoul, and how do I beat it?" said Ranma looking  
at Cologne with a serious gaze.  
  
"It is a technique called the Hadoken. It is a chi attack like the  
Mokou Takabishi or the Shi shi houkou dan, and you don't beat it, you  
can only hope to achieve it. It is the most powerful form of chi  
attack. It was that very technique that Shampoo's great grandfather  
used to defeat me," she said with a sigh.  
  
"What?" said everyone in the room with a look of complete surprise.  
  
"The Hadoken uses natural ki from everything around you. Unlike the  
Shi shi houko dan and Moukou Takabishi, it is not fueled by emotions.  
Your attack uses your confidence to filter and gather strength from  
inside you. It also makes it easier to control the chi. However the  
Hadoken uses natural raw energy that is unfiltered by the body and  
emotions; Thus it is much more powerful. " Cologne smiled at Ranma as  
he looked at her wide eyed.  
  
"Not that ghoul, the other attack," he said simply.  
  
Everyone face faulted.  
  
"What?" said Cologne.  
  
"That uppercut thing, the chi blast only stunned me for a moment, it  
hurt a lot more than a Shi shi houkou dan but it still only fazed me.  
I want to know about that Shoryuken thing," said Ranma.  
  
Cologne sat at the edge of the bed. "I don't recall any 'Rising Dragon  
Punch' move. All I saw was an impressive jumping uppercut."  
  
"That thing was more powerful that Hadou-whatever, I want to learn  
It." said Ranma.  
Cologne stared at Ranma for a moment. "Are you sure?"  
  
"If he had used that at the beginning of the fight it would have been  
over right away, I've never felt a blow that strong before," said  
Ranma with determination burning in his eyes.  
  
Ryoga perked up suddenly; he stared at his rival silently. "If I could  
learn that move..." he thought.  
  
"I'm afraid I won't be much help son in law. My husband was a student  
of a man named Shen long, he had only studied under him for a short  
time, he was very secretive about his art. That is all the information  
I can give to you."  
  
"If Ranma manages to learn it first..." thought Ryoga angrily.  
  
"The only way to learn it would be from that man," said Genma from his  
own seat.  
  
"Then I'm going after him," said Ranma standing from the cot.  
  
"Ranma wait. I'm coming too, you'll need my help," said Ryoga.  
  
Everyone looked at him. "Ryoga?" said Ranma looking at him oddly.  
"If you learn that move I'll never be able to defeat you. If I go with  
you I still have a chance." thought Ryoga bitterly. He stood silently  
before his rival and waited for a response.  
  
"All right," said Ranma after a moment of consideration.  
  
"It won't be easy to find him Saotome. He travels even more than I  
do," said Ryoga.  
  
Ranma nodded. "Why are you so eager to help?"  
  
"I may have given up on Akane, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna get  
soft and let you beat me so easily," said Ryoga with a malicious grin.  
  
  
"Wow, I don't think you've ever been so direct before. Usually you  
just come up with some lame excuse to help me," said Ranma with a  
friendly smile. "He'll get lost after the first day." he thought to  
himself.  
  
"Besides you probly just want me to lead you to him, then you'll try  
to dump me."  
  
Ryoga frowned and muttered too himself. "How could he know that?! It's  
gonna be a long trip."  
  
Together the pair went towards the dojo to get some sleep and prepare  
for the journey.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Akane sat across from Ranma and watched him stuff his bag with the few  
things he would need for his trip. "What's going on Ranma? Where are  
you going?" she said to him in a confused and worried voice.  
  
"Just on a training trip with Ryoga that's all," said Ranma smiling at  
her.  
  
"Where are you going?" she asked.  
  
"Jeez Akane, we've been over this. I'm not sure, besides I'm going  
with Ryoga, you know how that will turn out," he said without stopping  
his packing.  
  
"Since when do you and Ryoga get along so well?" asked Nabiki with a  
smirk from the doorway.  
  
Ranma glared at her. "Since China."  
  
Nabiki looked at him and walked out. She knew better than to continue,  
ever since they had returned from the trip to China Ranma and all  
involved had been on edge and reluctant to discuss it. She knew Akane  
had almost died and that Ranma had 'killed' someone named Saffron, but  
that was about it. She hated being in the dark about things like this.  
  
  
Ryoga stood as Ranma walked out of his room and met him at the stairs.  
"Is she gonna be OK about this?" he said quietly as he saw Akane watch  
Ranma walk out with him.  
  
"Yeah, I had to promise to write her and all that, but you know how  
women are," said Ranma looking back as the Tendos and his parents  
waved him off.  
  
"Not really," said Ryoga.  
  
"Oh come on! Akari tell us all about how you write her all the time.  
Her and Akane are practically best friends," said Ranma with a grin.  
  
"Really?" said Ryoga in genuine surprise.  
  
"Be careful my son!" cried Nodoka as she waved. Ranma turned and waved  
in acknowledgment. The goodbye had been short and everyone was  
cheerful about it, after all Ranma would only be gone for a short  
time, everyone but Akane that is. She watched him fade away into the  
distance with tears in her eyes. She wasn't really worried about him  
or anything. After all, he could take care of himself. She just had a  
feeling, It was as if she knew he would not return for a long time, it  
was as if she knew that all his past voyages would be nothing compared  
to the one he was on now, and she was here left behind. She sighed and  
stood in the road for a long time before Kasumi came and called her  
back in.  
  
"Akane come inside, Ranma will be fine, dinner is almost ready," said  
her sister in her eternally sweet voice.  
  
She turned to look at the horizon one last time and walked inside with  
her family. "Hurry back... you idiot."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Part 2: A journey begins.  
  
Ryoga stood in Nerima station with Ranma next to him and frowned. "We  
can't really afford to take the train Ranma," he said impatiently.  
  
"Then we'll just have to stop and pick up a fight to get some money on  
the way won't we? We won't catch up to him on foot for a while if we  
don't take the train," said Ranma with a smirk.  
  
Ryoga frowned and nodded his head. "I guess so."  
  
The pair boarded the Train and took their seats. After a few moments  
Ranma dozed off and they rode to Kyoto.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood at the door of the small alleyway bar and knocked. A small  
hole opened and an obviously large man peeked through.  
  
"No one under eighteen kid," he said and closed it quickly.  
  
Ranma knocked again slightly irritated.  
  
"You deaf kid?" said an angry voice as the hole opened again.  
  
"We aren't here to drink," said Ryoga. The man shifted behind the door  
and saw Ryoga standing to the side.  
  
"Oh, its you," he said with a small amount of recognition. The door  
opened and the pair were let in to the smoky hole of a bar. Some of  
the patrons watched the young boys as they were escorted to an even  
more dank hole in the back.  
  
"You've been here before?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Yup. Even I have to have money sometimes. Those things I used to  
bring to Akane aren't free ya know," said Ryoga seriously.  
  
Ranma nodded as they watched two over grown men beat on each other in  
the small concrete arena surrounded by loudly cheering men and women.  
They were approached by a small and snaky looking man who grinned at  
them without many teeth.  
  
"Ah, it is good to see you again Mr?" said the man.  
  
"Hibiki, and this is my friend Mr. Saotome. We need some quick cash so  
give us a good spread OK?"  
  
"Not many people here will recognize you, its mostly new blood in the  
crowd so that shouldn't be difficult," said the man as he gazed at the  
spectators.  
  
"That's good," said Ryoga.  
"Your friend, is he experienced?" asked the small man.  
  
"Yes, he was the champ at the ring in Nerima for a while," said Ryoga  
with a smirk.  
  
Ranma growled for a moment, but did nothing else. "I'll get you for  
that later Hibiki," he hissed under his breath.  
  
"Oh, so you're that Ranma kid. I hear you had a run in with Ryu," said  
the small man.  
  
"Yeah, you know where he's headed?" asked Ranma.  
  
The evil looking man smiled and held out his hand. Ranma took out a  
large Yen bill and put it in his hand with a sigh. "Not many people  
can tell you that I'm afraid. He travels randomly and goes to  
different hot spots around the world, last I heard he was going east  
after he passed through here a few days ago."  
  
"Great, if he leaves Japan we'll never catch him," grumbled Ryoga.  
  
"Well, If you want to participate tonight you had better get in there,  
it looks like Tanka is looking for another opponent," said the man.  
  
Ranma and Ryoga turned to see a huge muscular bald man with scars all  
over his body and a heart shaped Tattoo with 'Okasan' written in it on  
his left breast.  
  
"Looks like fun," commented Ranma.  
  
"You hang back Ranma I want this fight," Ryoga pushed passed him  
towards the ring.  
  
"Sure." Ranma leaned against the bar and watched with a small frown.  
  
Ryoga stepped into the ring and smiled at the man. "You're gonna fight  
me?" asked Tanka with a grin.  
  
The lost boy gave his best grin and scratched the back of his head. "I  
guess so."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
From the bar, Ranma smiled. "Gee Ryoga you play dumb so well, you must  
have had lots of practice." he commented to himself. The bartender  
snorted in amusement and gave the woman next to him her drink.  
  
"You bet on that man?" she said to him.  
  
"Sure, he's a friend of mine," said Ranma casually.  
  
"Looks like you lost some money," she said with a confident smirk.  
  
"You think so?" said Ranma with a knowing smirk.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
In the ring the match started with the cry of 'Fight!' from the  
ringside. Ryoga dropped into a defensive stance and smiled at the  
larger man. Tanka charged and swung at Ryoga who blocked and kicked at  
his head. The large man ducked and rolled missing Ryoga's kick my  
millimeters. He looked at Ryoga in confusion. That punch should have  
sent a guy like him flying across the ring, blocked or not.  
  
Ryoga smirked. "You hit like a girl," he taunted.  
  
"What?! I'll show you!" yelled the man as he charged Ryoga.  
  
The boy smiled and stopped his punch and forward momentum with one  
hand easily. He stood in a relaxed stance and smiled as the man  
strained to move forward. He yelled and swung with his other fist  
catching Ryoga off guard. The boy staggered for a moment and stood  
back up straight with the man's fist still in his face.  
  
"That's not a punch," he said and slugged the man hard in the stomach.  
"That's a punch." Tanka fell slowly to the ground clutching his  
stomach and most of the crowd cried out in rage and tore their tickets  
up.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Shit!" grumbled the woman at the bar as she downed her drink in one  
gulp.  
  
Ranma smiled at her and she gave him a sour stare. He walked over to  
collect his winnings. The snaky man gave him a wad of bills that was  
small compared to what he had made from the fight. "I just love it  
when you naturals come in here, no one ever expects it," he said and  
counted off his own earnings.  
  
"You have a good eye my friend," said a large man behind him "That  
marks only the truest of warriors."  
  
"Not really I know the guy," replied Ranma with unusual modesty.  
  
"I can see that you are as true a warrior as he is, perhaps we could  
have a match?" said the man.  
  
"Now?" said Ranma.  
  
"Of course. There is no better time," said the large man.  
  
"Here bet this on me," said Ranma handing back the money to the snaky  
man.  
  
The man accepted the cash eagerly. "To think I'll make all this back,"  
he said to himself gleefully.  
  
Ranma turned to face the man who was now in full view in the lights  
and standing in the arena. He regretted his decision almost  
immediately. His jaw dropped in disbelief. Standing in the ring was  
the most famous sumo wrestler in Japan. The man who had disappeared  
after becoming the Grand Master of Sumo Wrestling... E. Honda.  
  
"You bet all our money on this?!" screamed Ryoga as he rushed up  
beside him. "You had better win Saotome."  
  
"Not all of it," said Ranma as he walked towards the ring with a hard  
look on his face.  
  
The crowd rushed towards the betting tables.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood and faced the sumo wrestler. "Fight!" cried the voice from  
ringside again. The pigtailed martial artist charged in with a flying  
kick to Honda's head. The sumo merely shifted out of the way. Ranma  
landed and rolled away as Honda stuck out at him barely missing and  
creating a crater.  
  
"Damn! He's faster than he looks. How can some thing so big move so  
fast?" he thought in frustration as Honda kicked him in the head.  
Ranma fell and rolled with it. "Strong too." he thought as Honda  
laughed heartily.  
  
"You are a good fighter, but to weak to face me. Perhaps I was  
mistaken about you?"  
  
Ranma stood and glared at the sumo. "Oh yeah?" cried the boy as he  
rolled into an elbow strike that hit the sumo in the gut and knocked  
the wind out of him and sent him to the ground on his ass.  
  
Honda growled and stood "You should not have done tha-" he was stopped  
as Ranma kicked him hard in the face. Honda faltered and almost fell  
under the blow.  
  
"You talk to much," said Ranma coolly.  
  
Honda suddenly became very calm and stood facing The boy. He lifted  
one foot in the air and slammed it on the ground in traditional  
preparation of a sumo match he then slapped himself all over his body  
and charged his opponent, attempting to crush him by leaping into the  
air and coming down on his butt. The move left a large crater in the  
center of the ring.  
  
Ranma stepped away from and behind him as he landed. He quickly turned  
and punched the sumo's back near the base of his spine causing the him  
to cry out and kick at him. The boy spring-boarded off his leg and  
kicked his face sending the much larger warrior to the ground on his  
back.  
  
Honda stood and shook his head and slapped himself repeatedly all over  
his body again. He shifted back for a moment and shot towards Ranma  
headfirst like a torpedo. The boy lay flat on the ground and Honda  
sailed over him. The boy pushed himself up into a jump as Honda  
recovered and faced him again. He slowly moved towards Ranma with  
small movements of his feet. As he neared him Honda's hands became a  
blur of motion. Saotome was backed into a wall and stood his ground.  
His arms also became a blur of motion as he desperately blocked the  
sumo's attack.  
  
"How can this be? He blocks my Hundred hand strike?!" said Honda as he  
intensified his attack.  
  
Ranma kept up and Honda began to feel blows on his body, only a few,  
but enough to make his attack falter. The pigtailed boy reared back  
and punched him dead in the center of his forehead. Honda's head  
snapped back and he fell back to the ground. "I-Impossible!" he said  
before he passed out.  
  
"I won," said Ranma as he fell to his knees.  
  
"Damn right you won!" growled Ryoga. "How much of our money did you  
bet anyway?" he asked as he held up a large bag of cash.  
  
Ranma smirked and flipped him a fifty yen coin.  
  
"What's this?" asked Ryoga in confusion.  
  
"The money I didn't bet," said Ranma with a smirk as he walked out of  
the ring.  
  
"How dare you bet all our money on yourself! You reckless over  
confident bastard!" yelled Ryoga as he began to chase him around the  
room.  
  
"Hey, boys I got some info for ya. I'll even give it to ya free on  
account of ya made me so much money tonight," said the snake like man  
as he moved between them.  
  
"What?" said Ryoga impatiently.  
  
"We just got word Ryu arrived in Tokyo this morning. If you two boy's  
hurry you can catch him," said the man.  
  
An hour later Ranma and Ryoga were on a train and on their way to  
Tokyo.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Vs the world.  
  
Ch.3  
  
Ryoga's conflict. "I can't fight a girl!"  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga stood in the center of the concrete ring in Tokyo with a  
frustrated look on his face. He had beaten his opponent easily and was  
annoyed to no end. He casually walked over to his companion, who was  
standing outside the fence that separated the crowd from the ring. He  
had a smug grin on his face.  
  
"I was hoping to let off some steam. Traveling with Ranma is a pain in  
the ass." he grumbled.  
  
He and Ranma had been in Tokyo for about three days now and were  
beginning to think that they might never find Ryu. No one had any  
information concerning him in the area.  
  
"Ryoga did ya hafta do that? I mean look at the poor guy," said Ranma  
looking at the unfortunate man crumpled on the floor.  
  
"You shut up! I'd like to see you do better!" growled Ryoga.  
  
"I understand you two are looking for Ryu," said a small man from  
behind them.  
  
"Yeah, what of it?" said Ranma rudely.  
  
"I know someone who may be able to help. You'll have to beat 'em to  
get any info though," said the man.  
  
"Humph, I can take anyone you can throw at me," said Ryoga with a  
smirk.  
  
Ranma chuckled and sat down. "Where is this guy anyway?"  
  
"She's climbing in the ring now," was the man's reply.  
  
Ryoga turned and stared at the young woman who stood before him. She  
was about twenty years old and dressed in a light blue Karate gi. She  
had a long white ribbon tied across her forehead.  
  
"Hi," she said with a smirk as she gave him a small wave.  
  
"I can't fight a girl!" cried Ryoga. "Ranma go change and get in  
here!" he said clutching the fence in desperation.  
  
Ranma sneered at him. "Good luck P-chan." he took a seat near the ring  
and relaxed.  
  
Ryoga turned and stared at the girl helplessly. She smiled and kicked  
him in the face. The boy just looked at her. "I-I can' do this, you're  
a girl!"  
  
The girl stared at him for a moment. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I can't fight girls, It isn't right," he said timidly.  
  
The angry young woman punched him in the face hard. "How dare you,  
come here of all places with that attitude you wimp."  
  
Ryoga looked at her sadly. "What am I gonna do?!" he thought  
desperately. The girl was having problems of her own. This guy had  
just taken two of her hardest blows and he didn't even seem to notice.  
  
  
"Tough guy huh? Eat this Hadoken!" she cried and performed a rough  
looking chi blast that hit the lost boy dead in the chest.  
  
He stared at her in disbelief from the ground at the base of the  
fence. "Huh?"  
  
In the crowd Ranma stood and stared at her open mouthed. "That was..."  
he stuttered  
  
Ryoga stood shakily and saw the girl charging at him angrily. "Sho  
oken!" she screamed.  
  
Ryoga tried to jump out of the way and as a result took the blow in  
exactly the wrong place. The girl landed and the glow around her hand  
died down. Ryoga heard her walk up to him as he lay on the ground  
clutching his groin in pain.  
  
"How dare you enter my arena with that attitude pig." she said and  
turned away from him.  
  
The gears in Ryoga's simple mind began to turn and he stood shakily.  
He had felt something strange during the fight when she had performed  
the Hadoken. Then something registered in his head.  
  
Sakura was walking away with a disgusted look on her face. She had  
been expecting a real match, like the ones she had when she was in  
high school, instead she got this wimp. She felt something dangerous  
and familiar behind her. She turned and her eyes went wide as Ryoga  
stood shakily to his feet.  
  
"What did you call me?" he growled.  
  
"Pig," she said involuntarily.  
  
"I'll show you a pig! HADO SHI SHI HOUKOU DAN!" he cried and released  
the chi he had gathered from the air around him towards her.  
  
She felt the energy slam into her and she was thrown violently against  
the fence. "Damn!" she cried and rolled as she hit the ground.  
  
Ryoga dove for her and touched the floor. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" Sakura  
felt the ground explode around her and pelt her with rubble. She stood  
and faced him.  
  
"Hadoken!" she cried and fired her blast at him.  
  
"Hado Shi shi houkou dan!" replied Ryoga and sent a blast back at her  
that stopped her Hadoken in a small explosion.  
  
She growled and leapt at him "Shun pu kayaku!" she cried and spun into  
her hurricane kick variation and knocked him flat on his back. Ryoga  
rolled instinctively and grabbed one of his bandanas. He spun them and  
threw them towards Sakura as his roll stopped. She had not yet  
recovered from her Shin pu kayaku and took it in the back of the head.  
She slammed into the ground hard.  
  
The fight was over.  
  
Ryoga regained his senses and stood looking at Sakura in horror. "W-  
what have I done?!" he cried and fell to his knees beside her.  
  
A few moments went by and She opened her eyes as the fight medics  
swarmed her. "That was a good fight. I thank you."  
  
Ryoga didn't know what to say as she was carted off to the infirmary  
nearby. He just nodded.  
  
"Ryoga c'mon the guy said she had information on how to find Ryu, we  
have to go after her." said Ranma as he appeared beside him and  
dragged him off.  
  
"So you want to know how to find Ryu?" said Sakura as she lay in the  
cot with an IV sticking out of her arm.  
  
"Yeah, can you tell us?" said Ranma.  
  
"He won't teach you," said Sakura. "I spent two years of my life  
chasing him, I know." Her face fell as she said this.  
  
"We have to try. I have to learn the Shoryuken," said Ranma with a  
determined gaze.  
  
"That technique? I spent two years after him and my Sho oken is as  
close as I got," she said with a laugh. "You two should give up and go  
home to your families."  
  
"Just tell us where he is," said Ranma impatiently.  
  
"I've already learned the secret behind his techniques, I'll learn it  
in no time," said Ryoga with a glare.  
  
"What? I'll learn to do that in a few days," growled Ranma.  
  
"Not if I don't show you," smirked the lost boy arrogantly.  
  
"No fair Ryoga!" cried the pigtailed boy.  
  
"Fools, learning to pull the chi from the air is not even half of the  
secret of that technique," said Sakura with a bitter smile. "If you  
really want to know he probably went to Hong Kong," she said and got  
the reaction she wanted from Ryoga. Ranma, however, was a different  
story.  
  
"Hong Kong?! Damn we'll never find him now," said Ryoga angrily.  
  
"Why not?" said Ranma earning glares from both Sakura and Ryoga.  
  
"How the hell are we supposed to get there Ranma?!" yelled Ryoga  
angrily. "Have you forgotten that there is an ocean between us and  
there?"  
  
"We fly. Ryoga do you even know how much money we've made since we  
started? We can afford first class tickets if we wanted them," replied  
the boy calmly.  
  
"Wha?...We can?" said Ryoga with wide eyes.  
  
Ranma nodded and the pair walked out of the building bickering amongst  
each other, all the way to the airport.  
  
"What strange people," commented Sakura as she watched them walk away.  
"He'll never teach them though..."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma and Ryoga stood in line to get their tickets and watched several  
people go in and out of a nearby doorway. Ranma of course recognized  
what it was immediately. He tapped Ryoga on the shoulder.  
  
"What?" said the lost boy looking annoyed.  
  
"Hey check it out P-chan."  
  
Ryoga looked and snorted. "We just came from one."  
  
"Yeah, well our flight doesn't leave for a few hours so I'm gonna go  
check it out."  
  
"So, go." said Ryoga.  
  
"You're coming with me. I don't want to spend all night looking all  
over Tokyo for you, c'mon," said Ranma as the young woman gave them  
their tickets.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?!" yelled Ryoga defensively.  
  
"Employees only," said a large man that stepped between them and the  
door. Ranma shoved a bill in his hand and he moved out of the way.  
  
"Jeez, get over it c'mon, he said dragging Ryoga behind him.  
  
"No damn it what did you mean?!" he cried angrily.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood and stared at the ring before him. It was amazing, How  
they had managed to hide this in an airport he didn't know, but here  
it was. It had a professional ring and everything. A large crowd  
gathered around it and cheered for the two fighters inside. Ranma  
walked over to the counter and smiled at the man.  
  
"Hey, I want to book a fight as soon as possible, I gotta flight in a  
few hours and all."  
  
A sparkle of recognition hit the man's eyes and he smiled. "Ah Mr.  
Saotome I have just the man, we were in need of an opponent."  
  
"You've heard of him?" asked Ryoga dumbfounded.  
  
"And you as well. You'll find word travels quickly in this business. I  
heard about your defeat of the young Sakura moments after it  
occurred," said the man as he smiled at the pair warmly.  
  
Ryoga growled and blushed, he was still unhappy about beating her.  
  
"I suggest you get to the ring sir. Your fight starts in a few  
minutes." continued the man and pointed towards the ring.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood facing the tall twenty something man before him and  
frowned. "I know you..."  
  
"I am called Guy, and it shames to say that my exploits are eternally  
well documented by the media due to my friends," said the man who  
faced Ranma with a frown. He was dressed in red ninja garb without a  
mask.  
  
"Yeah, your the guy who fought that Gang a while back." said Ranma as  
he got into a ready position.  
  
"Fight!" cried the man from the ringside.  
  
Guy rushed the boy and leapt into the air with a downward crescent  
kick. It was obvious he was trying to finish up early.  
  
Ranma snorted and jumped up with him catching his leg and bring him  
down on the ground hard. "Air attacks are my schools specialty." he  
though to himself.  
  
Guy rushed and punched at the boy repeatedly in a fury. Ranma blocked  
desperately and could not find an opening in the man's defense.  
  
"This guy is better than Konatsu," he grumbled as he was caught by an  
uppercut. "You're fast," he said to Guy as he dodged the next few  
punches. "But not fast enough. Katsutenshin Amaguriken!"  
  
Guy felt an unbelievable amount of blows strike his body and was  
thrown against the ropes. "Damn," he thought as he almost blacked out.  
  
  
Ranma leapt at him and yelled as he fell for the final blow.  
"Perfect." thought Guy. "Bushin hassou ken!" he cried as he jumped up  
to intercept.  
  
He could not stop it. Guy repeatedly punched and kicked him higher and  
higher into the air and then performed a crescent kick at the peak  
that slammed him into the ground.  
  
"Ranma!" yelled Ryoga from the ringside. "If you lose any more of our  
money I'll kill you!  
  
The pigtailed martial artist stood and faced the ninja again, only to  
see that he was already attacking. He recognized it immediately. It  
was a variation on the attack Ryu had used on him. The hurricane kick.  
Ranma fell to the floor again and rolled under the attack. He stood  
and back kicked the ninja in the back of his head, sending him  
sprawling to the floor out cold.  
  
"Damn you Ranma! How dare you hit him from behind! Coward!" yelled  
Ryoga.  
  
"Aren't you ever satisfied?! I won didn't I?" said Ranma as the two  
collected their earnings and walked out to their flight.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The world 4  
  
The assassin and the bird.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stretched and stood in the room he and Ryoga had stayed in the  
night before. The room was small but comfortable and cozy. The hotel  
they were in was a nice middle class vacation type hotel and it had a  
small gym.  
  
He and Ryoga decided that since they were in the city that it would be  
better to stay indoors rather than seeking shelter in a park or an  
abandoned lot like Ryoga intended originally. Besides they could  
afford it. The pair had made a surprising amount of cash in their  
battles in Japan, especially the last few.  
  
Ranma walked over to the window and pulled the curtains open to look  
out at Hong Kong. They were only on the third floor but the view was  
still impressive.  
  
Ryoga snored loudly and scratched his head in his sleep. Ranma smirked  
and walked over to him. "Hey, P-chan wake up," he said giving him a  
hard kick. The boy muttered and kept snoring. "C'mon Ryoga we gotta  
practice you dope."  
  
Ranma was getting irritated at his companion's reluctance to wake up.  
A smile formed on his lips. He walked into the bathroom and pulled one  
of the small plastic cups from the sink and filled it with water from  
the sink.  
  
"What are you planing to do with that?" said Ryoga from directly  
behind him causing the pigtailed boy to start and splash the water all  
over himself. Ryoga poked Ranma in the back of the head causing her to  
fall face first into the sink. "You let your guard down."  
  
"You jerk! I was thirsty!" cried Ranma  
  
"Yeah right, That's why I heard you giggling to yourself all the way  
over here. Besides, you aren't thirsty now."  
  
"I'll get you for that," grumbled the redhead irritably.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
About an hour later in the gym both boys had attracted quite a crowd  
during their sparring match.  
  
Ryoga jumped up at Ranma and punched at his gut as Ranma kicked off  
his chest and blocked. "Hey, ease off P-chan we're only sparing."  
  
"Quit your whining and fight," sneered Ryoga. "How dare you call me P-  
chan in front of all these people!" he roared and leapt at Ranma  
again. The boy dodged and weaved around his blows.  
  
"Ryoga you dope, they don't know about that. Besides most of them  
can't understand us anyway!"  
  
"That's no excuse!"  
  
"Here it comes..." thought Ranma tensing himself.  
  
"Hado shi shi houkou dan!" said Ryoga as he shot his blast at his  
hated rival. He took it in his side and was shot across the gym and  
into the wall. He stood and groaned in pain.  
  
"Damn, I still haven't figured it out," muttered the pigtailed boy  
painfully.  
  
Ryoga stood and looked at Ranma as he stood up shakily. "I have to be  
careful about that, if I use it on him to often he'll figure it out,"  
he thought to himself. "That's enough practice for today Ranma. Let's  
go find this Ryu guy."  
  
"Ryoga you dope that goes to the pool!" cried Ranma as he chased after  
him.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
In the crowd someone frowned. "What do they want with Ryu?" he  
wondered and turned away.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga stood and watched the amateur punks beat the crap out of each  
other in the alley way behind a restaurant and frowned. "You say Ryu  
went through here?" he asked some of the men. The pair had run into a  
group of men who spoke very passable Japanese, one of them was even  
from a place near Nerima.  
  
"Yeah, a few days ago. He beat the hell out of Billy here," said a man  
pointing to a heavily bandaged man nearby.  
  
"Did he say where he might be going?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Well, he didn't say much, but he asked where the Golden dragon pan  
was," said another of the men.  
  
"The what?" asked Ryoga.  
  
"Golden Dragon pan' damn good food, a bit expensive. Maybe they can  
help?" said one of the better-dressed punks.  
  
"Thanks," said Ryoga shoving the group a few bills.  
  
Ranma turned to walk away but was stopped when he nearly ran into an  
elderly man in Chinese robes.  
  
"You want to find Ryu?" asked the man as he stroked his thick white  
beard calmly.  
  
"Yeah, you know anything about that?" asked Ryoga.  
  
"No, I know he is a very capable warrior, but not much else. It has  
been a few years since I've seen him. I am in search of another," said  
the old man. "One who escaped me."  
  
"Well, I'm afraid we can't help much old man," said Ryoga as he  
started walking away.  
  
"Perhaps not, however...I need my skills to be in top form when I face  
him again. Perhaps you can help me with that?" said the man pointing  
directly at Ranma.  
  
The boy caught on quickly. "How much is it worth?"  
  
Ryoga gave him an odd stare. It was unusual for Ranma to worry about  
money that way.  
  
The old man pulled out a bag and set several gold coins on a trash can  
lid. Ranma smiled and placed a large bundle of money next to them.  
"Stay here and guard the cash," he said to Ryoga.  
  
The punks all watched wide-eyed. Ranma wasn't totally stupid, he and  
Ryoga had set up an account at the bank of Japan before they left and  
put most of their money in the bank soon after receiving it.  
  
However the amount they had amassed coupled with his and Ryoga's  
savings was substantial and Ranma carried a good bit around with him.  
  
"Well young man, shall we begin?" asked the elderly martial artist as  
he took up a strange stance.  
  
"Kung fu? Not bad old man, So-ryu right?" asked Ranma as he took up  
his own ready stance.  
  
"Perhaps, I am called Gen by the way, not old man," he replied with a  
small smile.  
  
Ranma rushed him and swung for his head. Gen caught his arm and  
pressed firmly against his shoulder with two fingers. The boy cried  
out in surprise and pain. "If you try to play with me boy you will  
die," said Gen as he looked at his opponent coldly.  
  
Ranma shifted his weight and tore out of the painful hold. His arm  
hung limply at his side and the man's stance changed. "What's he up  
to?" he thought. "Now he's using Ko-ryu style..." Ranma dodged and  
blocked with his good arm while Gen took the offensive. "He's trying  
to kill me!" thought Ranma desperately as Gen charged again. Most of  
the old mans blows could have killed him had they struck him.  
"Katsutenshin amaguriken!" yelled Ranma as he charged and punched at  
Gen hundreds of times.  
  
"You are too slow with only one arm boy. Hyaku ren Ko," said Gen  
calmly as he blocked Ranma's blows with his own variation of the  
technique.  
  
Ranma felt something jab his side and stomach through the Chestnut  
fist attack. He fell to his knees clutching his wounds as he realized  
what Gen's attack was, He was using something similar to the Chestnut  
fist to attack his nervous system with pressure points. He tried to  
stand and his leg gave out under him causing him to fall again. Gen  
smiled and walked over to Ranma.  
  
"A good match boy but now it must end." he said and raised his hand.  
  
Ryoga watched as Gen prepared to give Ranma the finishing blow and  
stood angrily. "No one gets to kill him until I have!" he cried and  
moved toward one step.  
  
"Let it be," said a voice from directly behind him. Ryoga froze as he  
became aware of a very powerful presence behind him. He quickly turned  
and saw no one. He reluctantly took his seat and turned back to the  
fight as Gen gloated over the fallen Ranma. The old man then raised  
his hand to strike.  
  
Ranma snorted into the dust and grit his teeth. "I'm not done yet!" he  
cried as he rolled and slammed his good arm into Gen's crotch, hard.  
  
Gen stood motionless for a moment and turned red. Ranma kicked the  
elderly man's feet from under him causing him to land on his back. He  
rolled away and stood shakily on his good leg. Gen rose from the  
ground and glared at Ranma. "I'll teach you about pain before I kill  
you now boy!" he sneered and stalked towards him.  
  
Gen became a blur of motion and swung at Ranma from all directions  
shifting his forms to confuse the desperately defensive boy. Ranma  
growled as blows struck him almost causing him to lose his already  
delicate balance. "What am I going to do?" he thought desperately.  
Then it hit him. He was already doing it.  
  
Gen leapt at Ranma and cried 'Ouga' as he spun in the air and came  
down in a kick. Ranma ducked and shifted to avoid the blow, or so it  
seemed to Gen. At the height of his kick Ranma did something he wasn't  
expecting.  
  
"Hiryu shouten ha!" Gen gasped as the sleeping dragon enveloped him  
and shot him high into the sky in the form of a powerful whirlwind.  
  
As the blast died down Ranma collapsed as Gen came down nearby. Ranma  
stood again after a few moments and felt his leg and arm throb in pain  
as he regained control over them. He stood and wobbled towards Ryoga  
and the amazed crowd.  
  
"Wait. Finish it," said Gen from the ground as he also struggled to  
stand.  
  
Ranma turned to face him. "What?"  
  
Gen pulled out a bag that jingled with coins, "Take this its yours  
just finish what you've started boy. I wish to die in battle," said  
Gen weakly.  
  
"Put that away old man. I would have fought you for free if you hadn't  
had any money. I can't be bought, and I don't kill," said Ranma as he  
left Gen on the ground and walked away.  
  
"Heh, a wise choice." said Gen.  
  
Ranma turned to see that the man had vanished, he looked down to see  
the bag of coins at his feet. Embroidered on the bag was, "The only  
true assassins are those who use their hands to defeat their  
opponents."  
  
He picked it up and looked in the bag. He almost passed out again. In  
it was a small fortune in gold coins. He pulled out a small note  
written with intricate handwriting that said. "For my successor."  
  
Ryoga stood and watched coolly. "Ranma...How dare you beat up and rob  
a helpless old man like that!"  
  
From the shadows a dark figure stood watching. "If he is good enough  
to defeat the assassin... Perhaps I should watch this one more  
closely," it thought.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
A few hours later Ranma walked out of the 1st China bank with a huge  
grin. "What are you so happy about?" growled Ryoga.  
  
"You dope! You don't get it do you. We never have to worry about money  
again as long as we live. We are set for life!" said Ranma knocking on  
Ryoga's head like it was a door.  
  
"So?" said Ryoga sourly.  
  
Ranma sighed and walked on. "There is just no pleasing some people,"  
he said to himself. Ryoga walked a short distance behind him and  
frowned.  
  
"Hey Ranma. I'm bored," he said finally.  
  
"Well what do you want to do?" asked Ranma casually.  
  
"If I knew that I wouldn't be bored would I?" snapped Ryoga.  
  
"I'll buy you lunch I guess."  
  
"I can buy my own," sneered Ryoga.  
  
"Fine jeez! I try to be nice and this is what I get," said Ranma  
throwing his hands into the air in frustration.  
  
Ryoga stood and watched Ranma walk for a moment with a surprised look  
on his face. "He was?" he thought before realizing that he would be  
lost if he lost sight of Ranma.  
  
"Hey, wait up!"  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
At the Tendo Dojo...  
  
Dear Akane,  
  
Guess what? I'm in China again. Now before you get all mad at me I  
just want to say that I'm not in any trouble or anything, I just ended  
up here after our little training trip got underway. I guess we got a  
little carried away. Me and Ryoga talked about it and decided we are  
not going to visit Jusenkyo. If we did we would lose sight of our  
goal, possibly forever.  
I know I didn't explain much for you and your family. I guess I  
thought this way would be easier. I am with Ryoga searching for a  
technique called the Sho ryu ken. The only man we know of that knows  
it is a man named Ryu. We are trying to find him, and it isn't easy.  
He travels even more than Ryoga. Well I hope that clears things up a  
little for you. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you earlier.  
I miss every one there. Well almost.  
Yes, I even miss you. You uncute Tomboy.  
Ja! Ranma.  
P.S. Ryoga says "Hi"  
P.P.S. Ranma's just mad cause I learned a technique first...Ryoga.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Akane clutched the postcard to her chest and smiled. She started as  
Nabiki entered the room and sat down. She quickly composed herself.  
  
"What's that?" asked the middle Tendo.  
  
"Oh, just a post card from Ranma," she said nonchatingly.  
  
Nabiki plucked it from her grasp and glanced at it. Akane reached for  
it defensively, but pulled back at the last moment.  
  
"That dope hasn't changed a bit," said Akane with a slightly nervous  
laugh.  
  
"I certainly hope not, you'd never forgive him if he did," commented  
Nabiki as she handed it back.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Unryu pig farm...  
  
Akari Unryu held an Identical post card in her hand. On the front was  
a picture of Ranma and Ryoga standing in front of a large Chinese  
building and smiling casually. She almost cried in joy that Ryoga  
remembered her even on his voyage of training.  
  
Dearest Akari,  
  
I hate Traveling with Ranma, he's such a jerk. I think I'm going to  
kill him. He's always such a pain in the ass. I miss you and hope to  
see you as soon as I beat the crap out of Ranma for good. Ranma says  
to say 'Hi'. I told him to quit hitting on you and hit him. That guy  
is unbelievable.  
I hope you are doing well.  
Until we meet again.  
Ryoga.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"He's so romantic. Defending my honor that way. Just like a pig  
would." sighed Akari happily as she clutched the card to her chest.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Back in China...  
  
Ranma stood in a park in one of the nicer areas of Hong Kong and  
watched the people go by. He smiled and waved as a group of  
schoolgirls walked by giggling and watching him.  
  
Ryoga stood next to him at a phone booth and flipped through the pages  
of the phone book casually. He blushed slightly as he noticed some of  
the girls were watching him as well. He ignored it and continued his  
search. "Did ya find it yet?"  
  
Ryoga snorted and frowned. "Yeah," he said and ripped out the page.  
"And don't think I didn't notice you flirting with those girls  
Saotome. I won't allow you to cheat on Akane like that." He smacked  
Ranma upside his head with the book.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
About an hour later Ranma and Ryoga walked into the Golden Dragon Pan  
and waited as a pretty young girl walked up and greeted them. They  
smiled politely and asked if she spoke Japanese. She bowed and walked  
away.  
  
A short elderly woman walked up to them and smiled. Ranma and Ryoga  
winced at the familiarity of the situation.  
  
"What can I do for you boys?" she asked.  
  
"We are looking for a man named Ryu. We understand he came here," said  
Ryoga.  
  
The woman frowned and looked thoughtful. "I can't say I remember. We  
get a lot of customers from all over."  
  
"Oh well, thanks for your time," said Ryoga.  
  
"Sorry I couldn't help," said the woman.  
  
The pair stepped out of the restaurant and walked back towards the  
hotel. About half way there they passed an alley. Am obviously female  
figure in the shadows stepped out into the light. "I understand your  
looking for Ryu."  
  
"That's right," said Ranma stepping forward.  
  
"I've found them," she said to no one.  
  
Another figure stepped out of the shadows. This is them? he asked  
with a snort in English.  
  
"These are the men my contact said were sparing in the Gym. Obviously  
collectors for Shadowloo," said the woman.  
  
"What the hell are they talking about Ranma?" said Ryoga.  
  
"Got me," replied Ranma coolly. He didn't like the look she was giving  
him.  
  
The man standing opposite Ryoga got into a ready stance and Ryoga  
followed. "So you want to fight?" asked Ryoga frowning at the much  
larger man He had blocked blonde hair and wore camouflage pants with a  
black leather jacket. He also stood like he knew what he was doing.  
  
Ranma had his own problems. The woman hadn't even bothered to get into  
a stance. "For my father!" she cried and charged at Ranma with a kick  
that sent him into the alleyway. "My name is Chun li and your kind  
killed my father scum. Prepare to die!" she said and charged at him  
again.  
  
Ranma stood from the puddle she was in and punched the woman in the  
face. "Now that were both girls, I don't have to go easy on you," she  
said as a shocked Chun li stood and faced her new opponent.  
  



	2. part 4-8

++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The world 5  
  
The eagle and the bird.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga stood and glared at his opponent. Guile. He faced him and  
frowned.  
  
"Tell us who you're working for. I want names," demanded the American.  
  
  
Ryoga stopped and relaxed his stance. "Working for?"  
  
Guile punched him while his guard was down and sent him to the  
pavement. Ryoga stood immediately. "What the hell are you doing  
jerk?!" he cried and charged at the American. Guile side stepped and  
Ryoga passed him and spun into a back kick that took Guile in the jaw,  
causing him to slam into the brick wall. Ryoga pressed his advantage  
and swung at the man, who simply sidestepped again.  
  
"What the hell?" thought Guile as Ryoga pulled his fist out of the  
wall. The damage he had inflicted was unbelievable. "I can't let this  
guy get his hands on me." He charged and backhanded the boy in his  
face causing him to stagger back.  
  
Ryoga turned and smiled at his opponent. "You're pretty strong, I  
actually felt that punch."  
  
Guile stepped back and growled. "Shit, I'm gonna have to go all out."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
In the alleyway Ranma dodged Chun li's attacks as fast as she could.  
The woman jumped up and kicked at the redhead, who ducked and shifted  
out of the way. Chun li landed and flipped on her hands. "Spinning  
bird kick!" she cried as she spun at her opponent.  
  
The pigtailed girl stood and blocked as best as she could only to be  
knocked into a pile of trash nearby. "Damn, she's fast."  
  
Chun li flipped onto the wall and hoped off it towards Ranma. She  
twisted into the air into an Axe kick as she neared her opponent. The  
red head jumped out of the way and punched out at the angry Kempoist.  
Chun li grabbed her arm and threw her into the ground hard. Ranma  
twisted and rolled, throwing her as well as she landed. She stood and  
looked to see Chun li climbing out of the garbage pile with  
determination burning in her eyes.  
  
"I will make you pay for that girl. Then I will find your boyfriend  
and teach him what it means to be a criminal in my city."  
  
"Boyfriend?" said Ranma momentarily surprised.  
  
Chun li leapt at Ranma again and kicked at her head. Ranma ducked and  
rolled away. She turned and jumped at Chun li in a counter attack  
aimed at her head and Chun li smiled. The Chinese woman jumped at the  
girl in an almost vertical spinning kick that hit her several times in  
the chest. Ranma fell to the ground hard and groaned in pain. She  
stood as Chun li walked towards her. The girl was forced into defense  
immediately.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Guile jump kicked Ryoga in the chest sending the boy staggering back  
again. Ryoga punched at him and he ducked. Guile smiled as he kneeled  
and shot up into the air in his infamous flash kick. The lost boy  
stepped back barely in time and was thrown back from the sheer force  
of the kick as it ripped his shirt wide open.  
  
Guile frowned as his attack missed and noticed the boy glancing at  
Chun li and his friend.  
"You should pay attention," he said to him as he punched him in the  
head.  
  
Ranma was walking the spiral and Drawing the angry Chun li into the  
nexus of the blast. He finally entered the center and...ducked away.  
  
"Idiot," grumbled Ryoga as Guile sent his fist into his head. "Can't  
you see I'm busy?" he said rubbing the spot as Guile staggered back  
from the kick back of the blow. Ryoga swung at him and frowned as  
Guile leapt over his head. Ryoga did a back kick and felt it connect.  
Then he turned and saw no one behind him. "Wha?" he said in surprise.  
"You coward! How dare you run from our fight!" he yelled and went off  
in pursuit.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Guile jumped over Ryoga's head and was taken by his back kick in the  
face. He was sent to the ground hard and browned out for a moment. He  
saw the boy turn ninety degrees and look around confused before  
saying. "You coward! How dare you run from our fight!"  
  
He was about to go after him and he stood to his feet. The task proved  
more difficult than he had anticipated and he fell to the ground  
unconscious.  
  
Ranma turned after being hit to the ground again by a kick and stood  
against the wall. His leg burned and began to feel numb. Chun li  
charged and kicked at her. "Yayayayayayayayayyayayayayaaa!" she cried  
and unleashed her lightning kick on the hapless Ranma.  
  
Ranma desperately blocked and stood her ground. Chun li intensified  
her attack and the girl intensified her own. Then Ranma's arm gave out  
again. "No! I still haven't healed from that old man's fight!" she  
thought as Chun li's attack began to get through. She felt a few of  
the kicks and faltered letting her guard completely down. "No!" she  
thought tensing herself. Then Chun li stopped and frowned, she was  
breathing hard and glaring at her.  
  
"You're good girl I'll give you that," she said bitterly.  
  
Ranma grit her teeth charged at her shakily. "I have to take her out  
now while she's winded or I never will."  
  
"You're good...but I am the strongest woman in the world!" cried Chun  
li as she put her hands up in front of her. Ranma felt something  
familiar in the air, but this was much larger in scale. "Sho Kocho!"  
cried the woman as a huge burst of Ki appeared before her.  
  
"That's it!" thought Ranma as she felt the blast engulf her.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
A few minutes later Ranma awoke and was surrounded by heavily armed  
men in uniforms. Chun li rested against a wall nearby with a badly  
bruised Guile standing next to her. He had a black eye and his cheek  
was beginning to swell.  
  
Ranma frowned as she was forced to stand. She tugged at her hands and  
felt that they were cuffed. She was put into the back of a police van  
marked 'Interpol' on the side. She sighed and allowed herself to be  
taken.  
  
"What happened to you?" said Chun li looking at Guile in surprise.  
  
"Got hit by a truck," said Guile without flinching. "How are you?"  
  
"Fine I guess. She is one hell of a fighter for someone her age," said  
Chun li in answer. "To bad she didn't choose her sides better. Looks  
like her so called friends abandoned her."  
  
Guile only nodded.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A few miles away...  
  
Ryoga walked on. He had stopped his search for his opponent a while  
ago and simply wandered. He didn't bother looking where he was going  
because he knew it didn't matter. He just wandered. "Who needs Ranma.  
I'll find Ryu on my own," he thought as he walked on.  
  
In the shadows a familiar looking outline watched and waited as Ryoga  
walked by several times, seemingly unaware that he was being followed  
or even that he was going in circles.  
  
"Damn he's on to me," thought the figure as he stepped out in front of  
Ryoga finally.  
  
The lost boy stopped and regarded the new figure for a moment before  
he started walking on.  
"Stop," said the man. His Identity still obscure from the shadows  
surrounding the buildings due to the hour.  
  
"What? Wait, I remember you," said Ryoga looking at the figure for a  
moment.  
  
The man smiled, it would be good if he already feared him and his  
skills.  
  
"You were watching us spar this morning!" said Ryoga completely  
oblivious.  
  
The man face faulted for a moment and frowned deeply. "Did you come  
from under a rock or something? You may have escaped my friends but  
you won't get away from me," said the figure getting into a ready  
stance.  
  
Ryoga followed. "I'm in no mood for this," he warned the man as he  
threw his bag to the ground. "Interesting," he commented noting the  
man's stance his eyes narrowed as he lifted his fist to confront him.  
  
"Let's go," replied the man.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The World 6  
  
Captured and the Dragon strikes...  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat in the chair as the men in the room with her walked in  
circles around her. She smiled as one of them punched her again. Her  
face was not in good shape, it was covered in bruises and she was  
bleeding from her mouth and nose. Her right eye was almost completely  
red. The man who had been asking her questions in Chinese hit her in  
the stomach yet again with his rifle.  
  
Tell us what we want to know and maybe the judge will go easy on  
you! screamed the man.  
  
"What?" asked Ranma again.  
  
It earned her yet another round of punches and kicks from the men. It  
did not matter to her; she had had much worse in her life, but still,  
they were starting to annoy her.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
In the next room Chun li looked at the interrogation indifferently.  
"She is a tough one."  
  
"I don't like this, if my country finds out I was involved with this  
interrogation I may be pulled from the case," said Guile as he  
watched.  
  
Chun li smiled. "Then leave, no one is keeping you. This is how some  
things are done in my country."  
  
"You know I can't do that," said Guile as he watched. "I want him too  
badly."  
  
Then Ranma turned and looked at them through the one way mirror. "You  
could at least have someone who speaks my language in here," she said  
calmly to the pair. One of the men uppercut her in the jaw with his  
rifle and knocked her too the floor.  
  
Chun li pushed the button for the intercom. "That's enough. Clean her  
up and put her in a cell, we'll continue this tomorrow," she said in a  
frustrated tone.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
Ryoga stood and watched his opponent as he moved slowly towards him.  
The man frowned and rushed him suddenly. "Whoooooo!" he cried as he  
jumped straight up and caught Ryoga's chest with a powerful kick. The  
boy was sent flying into the air and screamed in pain as flames  
erupted all over his body. He hit the ground rolling and put them out.  
Steam rose from his scorched body as he stood. "Rekka ken!" screamed  
the man as he charged.  
  
Ryoga was still not recovered from the first blow and was hit with  
several lightening fast blows. He fell to the ground and clutched his  
jaw.  
  
"That's pretty good," he commented painfully.  
  
"No one can stand up to Fei Long's attacks," said the man confidently.  
  
  
"Ya know, you remind me of someone," said Ryoga as he stood and smiled  
at the man.  
  
"I should hope so," grumbled Fei Long.  
  
He had only made thirty movies, most of them were at least reasonably  
popular and his last five had practically made him a household name.  
  
"His name is Ranma and I really don't like him. I think I'll take it  
out on you," said the boy as he got into his battle ready stance once  
again. This time he also had his umbrella in hand.  
  
"Well, you've obviously seen fist of steel two; but if you remember I  
defeated him and his invincible umbrella attacks," said Fei Long  
looking annoyed.  
  
"What are you talking about?" yelled Ryoga as he swung at Fei Long  
with his weapon. The movie star blocked and was thrown into the wall  
hard. Ryoga pressed his assault and jabbed at him again.  
  
Fei long jumped up over the second strike only to get knocked out of  
the air and into another wall by the lost boy. "Damn, what the hell is  
that thing made of?" wondered the movie star as he rubbed his arms  
where Ryoga had connected.  
  
"I'll show you," said Ryoga in answer as he opened it and flung the  
umbrella at him like a boomerang. It sailed by missing Fei Long's neck  
by inches and carved a deep gash in the wall next to him.  
  
"What the hell?" said Fei Long as he looked at the wall. Ryoga stood  
calmly and caught the umbrella in his hand as it returned.  
  
"Impressed?" asked the boy in a dangerous tone.  
  
"Very, Maybe this fight will get even more interesting," said the man  
with a smirk. The two men charged each other.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma was thrown into the small, dank cell roughly. She hit the floor  
and turned to see the other three inhabitants looking at her coolly.  
She stood shakily and faced them.  
  
"Look at what we have here," said the largest of the girls. Ranma  
simply slumped against the bars; she could take another beating. She  
wasn't in the mood for another fight with a girl. Especially since the  
last one had gone so well.  
  
The large woman and her skinny companion walked over and pushed her  
face up. "You took it pretty bad," she said with a smile. "Got a  
name?"  
  
"Ranma," she answered.  
  
"Well c'mon in, Welcome to the foreigners block. We'll get you cleaned  
up." said the woman. Ranma blinked in surprise and walked to the back  
of the cell with her. The woman on the other side of the cell stared  
at her with a gaze of ice. Ranma felt unnerved but ignored it. The  
woman just sat and stared, nothing more.  
  
"Foreigners block?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Yeah, this is where the police send all their out of country scum.  
They just chuck us over to Interpol cause it's to much paperwork  
otherwise," laughed the older woman. "Me and Shinko here are from  
Kyosho, not sure about blondie over there, she don't talk."  
  
The woman in question simply stared at Ranma with her cold blue eyes.  
  
"What ya in fer?" asked the skinny girl.  
  
Ranma looked at her for a moment and thought. "Not really sure, They  
think I'm some sort of collector or something; for some guy named  
Shadowlaw."  
  
The woman across the cell stood and glared at Ranma even harder. "They  
think you are a collector for Shadowloo?" she asked in heavily  
accented Japanese.  
  
"Yeah." answered Ranma warily.  
  
"Humph, I don't know you. You're not Shadowloo," said the woman with  
an angry looking stare.  
  
"Yeah, I know that, they don't," retorted Ranma curtly.  
  
"And how would you know little miss brit?" asked the large ugly woman  
standing to her full height.  
  
"Because I was an assassin and collector," she replied. The large  
woman sat down and kept her mouth shut.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga slammed his fist into Fei Long's gut and got kicked in the face  
for his efforts. "Heh, your almost as fast as Ranma," he said as he  
staggered from the blow.  
  
Fei Long was on his knees and clutching his stomach. "I think I'm in  
trouble. This guy hits like a truck!" He kicked at Ryoga's feet and  
was met half way by the umbrella.  
  
"Give it up, that guy I beat up earlier could take you on easily.  
You're too weak to hurt me," snorted Ryoga.  
  
"I'll show you weak!" yelled Fei Long as he charged Ryoga. He punched  
at his chest with his Rekka ken and Ryoga went flying into a wall. He  
slumped down and the wall crashed in around him. "Heh, I showed you  
who was weak," spat the man as he turned away.  
  
Then the ground exploded from under him. Fei Long turned and looked  
back in horror as Ryoga began to laugh. "No way," he whispered.  
  
"Ha, You call that strong?!" sneered Ryoga as he stood from the pile  
of bricks. Fei long put his fist up again. "I'll show you real  
strength!" yelled Ryoga as he charged.  
  
The Chinese man jumped in the air and kicked the boy in the back of  
the head as he passed sending the boy into the side of a dumpster.  
Ryoga nearly crushed it flat against a wall. Fei Long was beginning to  
think that he was in serious trouble.  
  
"No wonder he walked away from Guile. This guy can't be human!"  
thought the man.  
  
"I've got to get this guy down," thought Ryoga to himself. "He's a lot  
stronger than Ranma is and almost as fast, I won't be able to take  
another of those Rekka ken punch combos, if he gets one in its over."  
  
Fei Long knew he had to get this fight over with soon. He had one  
attack left.  
  
Ryoga got himself ready as the man prepared his next attack. "I won't  
lose." he thought angrily as he positioned himself.  
  
Fei Long charged.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stared at the woman and frowned. "What?"  
  
"I don't repeat myself luv," said the woman frowning.  
  
"Tell me what a collector is exactly. Miss...?" said Ranma sitting  
down next to the woman.  
  
"White, Cammy White, I think. And to answer your question, Basically a  
collector is someone who collects fighters as recruits for Shadowloo."  
  
  
"Well that doesn't help me much. What do they care about some  
recruiter anyway?" said Ranma.  
  
"I don't think you understand the concept of collecting. It isn't  
voluntary. They take you by force and brainwash you. That is what  
happened to me, except for the past three years I have no memory,"  
said Cammy quietly.  
  
"I'm sorry," said Ranma sympathetically.  
  
"What made them think you were a collector anyway?" asked Cammy.  
  
"I'm looking for a man named Ryu. I think it had something to do with  
that, but I'm not sure, I heard the woman mention it when I was  
caught," said Ranma thoughtfully.  
  
"Ryu? The street fighter? What do ya want him fer?" asked the large  
woman.  
  
"Sho ryu ken," said Ranma with a far off gaze.  
  
Cammy looked at her blankly. "What?" she said dumbly. "What's a Sho  
ryu ken?"  
  
"Its a technique. I have to learn how he does it," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"Why?" asked the skinny girl.  
  
"Its a guy thing." said Ranma simply.  
  
A guard walked to the door of the cell and looked at his clipboard.  
"White, Cammy."  
Cammy stood and walked to the door she stood with her back to the  
guard and stuck her hands through the hole so she could be cuffed for  
transport.  
  
"Looks like my turn." she said smiling slightly at Ranma.  
  
Ranma watched her being led away and frowned.  
  
"Boy she got talkative," commented the large woman.  
  
"I'll say." agreed her companion.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Fei Long charged at Ryoga. "Rekka shin ken!" His fist became a blur as  
he struck out at the lost boy.  
Ryoga braced for impact he set his feet apart slightly and thrust his  
hands forward. "Hado shi shi houkou dan!"  
  
They slammed into each other hard. Ryoga took a punch that sent him  
flying into one wall and into a pile of garbage bags. Fei Long took  
the full blast and was shot through the wall opposite Ryoga leaving a  
gaping hole. After a moment Ryoga stood shakily. He looked and saw Fei  
Long's unconscious form lying on the floor on top of the rubble from  
the blast. He turned and staggered away clutching his face. "Damn, I  
didn't even get paid for this. This is all your fault Ranma..." he  
said out loud.  
  
Then he remembered he was alone. He laughed to himself. He was so used  
to having Ranma around after a fight over the past month that he had  
forgotten he had been arrested only hours before.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma smiled as she sat in the middle of the floor in a meditation  
position, she had realized what she felt when the woman gave her the  
final blow in her fight. Now she understood it. She stood and looked  
at the wall in front of her. "I'm leaving."  
  
"What?" said the large girl sitting up suddenly. She wiped the sleep  
from her eyes and looked at Ranma who just stood there.  
  
"What are you talking about girl?" she slurred sleepily.  
  
"What floor are we on?" asked Ranma.  
  
"The second, but I still don't understand," said the woman.  
  
"Good, I'd stay here if I were you. This may get rough," said Ranma as  
she concentrated. "Hadou Moukou Takasishi!" she cried and blasted the  
wall away leaving a huge hole. She ran and jumped from the hole to the  
ground. She charged as sirens blared around her and she made her way  
to the outside wall after jumping several fences. The searchlight was  
pointed on her and she smiled as she felt the lights concentrate on  
her. It wasn't much but it was enough, barely.  
  
She heard the men in the nearest tower point their guns on her and  
yell at her in Chinese and English to give herself up. She smiled and  
stood still, All she could do was hope one of the men was not trigger-  
happy. She pointed her fist at the searchlight suddenly and smiled  
wider. "Hiryu shouten ha revised! Diagonal distraction blast!" she  
cried as the tornado force winds shot from her body to the tower  
blowing it away. At the last moment she threw herself into the blast.  
She felt herself being thrown into the air as the winds tore and beat  
on her already beaten body. She was shot over the wall and ran to  
safety into the night as the confused guards tried to figure out what  
happened.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Cammy sat at a table and waited for Chun li to return to the room. The  
door opened and Chun li entered casually. "Black coffee right?" she  
said with a smile.  
  
"Yes, thank you," said Cammy politely.  
  
"What did you find out?" asked Chun li calmly as she turned on her  
tape recorder.  
  
"Nothing really, I don't think she is a collector. She didn't  
recognize me and I don't remember her. She didn't seem to know what I  
was talking about."  
  
"What does she want with Ryu?" asked the Chinese woman impatiently.  
  
"Why is it so important luv?" asked Cammy coolly.  
  
Chun li blushed. "I'm sorry, it's just that he's an old friend," said  
Chun li catching herself.  
  
"Act like that and I might be compelled to with hold important facts,"  
said Cammy curtly.  
  
"Your superiors said you would cooperate Miss White," said Chun li.  
  
"If this girl would not suffer I would walk out now Miss li," said  
Cammy angrily.  
  
"Tell me," said Chun li sitting in her chair calmly.  
  
"She is looking for something called the Sho Ryu Ken. Does that mean  
anything to you?" asked Cammy.  
  
"Shit," muttered Chun li bitterly as she slumped into her chair. "The  
poor kid was just on some sort of training trip."  
  
"I take it you gave her a full interrogation?" said Cammy calmly.  
  
Suddenly the alarms were blaring.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
A few moments later in the hall...  
  
"Our friend," said Guile as he met Chun li and Cammy halfway to the  
cell that had once contained Ranma.  
  
"I thought so. How far did she get?" asked Chun li as a lump formed in  
her throat.  
  
"All the way. The guards still don't know what hit them. No one was  
injured seriously but she gave a couple a good scare," said Guile as  
he walked with her.  
  
"Good, She isn't Shadowloo," said Chun li as she walked.  
  
"It was a good idea to send Cammy in, how did you know she would take  
interrogation?" asked Guile casually as they approached the cell.  
  
"You weren't there for the strip search. That girl has seen a lot of  
combat. That's why I was so sure," said Chun li.  
  
"And wrongly so luv," commented Cammy.  
  
"Let it go," said Guile flatly.  
  
"Sir," replied Cammy reluctantly.  
  
"What's her story?" asked Guile ignoring the girl.  
  
"Apparently a training voyage. She wants to learn from Ryu. That's  
what I could gather anyway. I should have known right away really. Its  
been a while but I've seen this before, it didn't end well for her,"  
said Chun li as she looked at the hole in the wall.  
  
"...Light came from her hands and she shouted Hado something..." said  
one of the prisoners as they were lead by the group, on their way to  
their new cells.  
  
"That sounds familiar. Looks like she can use Hado ken," said Chun li  
calmly as Guile inspected the hole.  
  
"It's a fairly common technique these days in one form or another,"  
said Cammy.  
  
Chun li blushed. "What are you saying?" she said angrily.  
  
"I didn't say anything about you luv. You did that on your own," said  
Cammy as she turned away. "I have to go write a report now if you  
don't mind."  
  
"Little girls," said Guile as he smiled to himself. "So what do we do  
about this?"  
  
"I see no point in chasing her, She could be held responsible for the  
damages, but she didn't really do anything to get put in here in the  
first place. I should have investigated more. We let her go," said  
Chun li as she turned away.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked at the prison on a hill from a few miles away. She had  
been running for some time now and sat down to rest. She had not  
traveled well over the past few hours as her injuries were extensive,  
if only minor, every part of her body was sore and some parts were  
beginning to bleed again. It was very uncomfortable to sit, but even  
more so to stand. She thought back to the escape and the blast she had  
used to bring down the wall.  
  
"Something didn't feel right when I did that. It wasn't Hado ken yet.  
What am I missing?" she looked at her hands thoughtfully. "I will get  
this, I have a feeling I'll need it for the Sho ryu ken," thought  
Ranma as she stood and began to walk again.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga Hibiki sat on a hill that overlooked Hong Kong. He looked at his  
fist and frowned. "I still can't get it right. What am I doing wrong?"  
he muttered as he thought. "I will master the Sho ryu ken. I won't let  
Ranma beat me this time!" he thought as he poked at the fire.  
  
He felt a chill go down his spine as he sat there. It was as if  
someone had walked over his grave. He turned to see a dark figure  
walking down the road, it stopped and was looking at him. He felt  
strangely afraid and swallowed as he looked at it. It seemed to snort  
in mild amusement and continue on its way. Ryoga turned away and  
stared into the fire for a moment. He had never felt anything like  
what he had just experienced now. "Yes I have. When Ranma was fighting  
that old man." Ryoga looked at the flames for a moment more and looked  
to see that the figure was long gone. "I could have sworn it was  
glowing."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma Vs. The world. 7  
  
Fortunes told, reunited rivals, and the tigers breath.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga woke early and began to gather his things. He was somewhere in  
the wilderness of China and he had a long way to go. He began walking  
and frowned at the sky. "Its going to rain soon," he commented as he  
began walking. "Damn you Ranma. I don't need this."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma woke from her sleep and stood stiffly. She walked over to a  
nearby stream and looked into the water. Her face was still badly  
bruised and she could feel every joint in her body. She staggered for  
a moment before collapsing to the ground again. "Damn," she said as  
she felt her body give out from the strain of the past few days. She  
simply sat and rested on the ground. Then a rustling came from the  
nearby bushes.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga pressed on through the woods and growled in anger as he came  
upon his camp again. "I'll never find Ryu at this rate." he muttered  
as he walked. Then he heard it. A voice came from nearby and screamed,  
it was very familiar. What it screamed sent chills down Ryoga's spine.  
"No! Ranma!!" he thought as he began to run.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stared in disbelief as the bushes parted. A smile crossed her  
lips and she began to laugh slightly. "So this is how it ends?" she  
thought to herself. Standing in front of her was a huge Bengal tiger.  
"I didn't think there were any of those this far East," she thought  
mildly as the beast closed in on her.  
  
A familiar fear began to creep down her spine as it stalked towards  
her. She could see its breath in the cool morning air as it breathed.  
Some how in the midst of all her terror, Ranma had a thought. It was  
the breath of the animal that set it off. She didn't quite know why  
gut it made her think of her fight with Ryu. Her mind went spinning,  
happy to any distraction at the moment. Something about his hands and  
the way the animals breath looked.  
  
A dark smile crossed her lips as the beast came within seven feet of  
her. She stood and glared at it, almost freezing in the fear her  
father had forced on her many years ago. "I've got it."  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga burst through the bushes and stared at Ranma as she lay on the  
ground unconscious. The tiger sat motionless several yards away and  
Ryoga gave it a passing glance as he walked over to her side. He saw  
the smoke rising from the animal and frowned. He looked at the girl  
for a moment more before lifting her and walking away from the tiger.  
He had his doubts before, but now he was sure. He thought back to the  
scream, it had sent chills down his spine. "Damn you Ranma." he said  
bitterly.  
  
She had done it; He had mastered the Hado ken first.  
  
"Wait!" cried a voice from behind him.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
Two days later Ranma woke up. He looked around and saw that he was in  
the back of some sort of wagon. His vision cleared up and he stood  
stiffly. The first thing he noticed was that all his wounds were  
dressed and cleaned. He stretched and his back popped, he grunted in  
satisfaction as the tension left it.  
  
"So your finally awake my friend."  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma as he turned to see an elderly man standing in the  
doorway to the cart.  
  
"So your the one who almost killed my tiger. Come along, Your friend  
is waiting," said the man. Ranma shrugged and followed.  
  
Ranma was led through a busy camp and looked around in wonder. He  
smiled as a group of women walked by and giggled at him. "What is this  
place?" he asked the man leading him.  
  
"This is our camp. We are a band of Gypsies. One of the last in the  
world who still live by the old ways. I must apologize for my pet, she  
is quite dangerous if she doesn't know you. We try to keep her locked  
up, but you know how animals are sometimes." said the man  
apologetically.  
  
Ranma nodded and followed silently to a large group of men sitting  
around a campfire eating breakfast.  
  
Ryoga stood and glared at his companion as he walked up the men.  
"Ranma!" he said angrily.  
  
"Hey Ryoga. How did you find me?" asked Ranma in surprise. "I didn't  
think I'd see you again until I got back to Japan."  
  
"Ranma...How dare you learn the Hado ken before me?!" yelled Ryoga as  
he walked over to him.  
  
"You jerk. Is that all you can say? I was in prison!" retorted Ranma.  
  
"You finally got what you deserve if you ask me!" said Ryoga bitterly  
as he grabbed Ranma and reared back for a punch.  
  
"Stop this foolishness," said a calm voice. Ranma and Ryoga turned to  
see a beautiful and exotic looking purple haired woman watching them  
coolly. "Come with me."  
  
They looked at each other for a moment and simply shrugged their  
shoulders before following.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Inside a large cart the woman motioned for them to sit at a small  
cramped table. "I am called Rose. I understand you seek the one called  
Ryu?"  
  
"Yes, do you know where he is!?" cried Ranma and Ryoga in almost  
perfect unison. They glared at each other and turned way.  
  
"No, all I can do is help you understand your fate," said the woman as  
she pulled out a deck of cards.  
  
Ranma looked at her in surprise. "Aw man. No one believes in that  
junk."  
  
Rose smiled. "I do. Humor me."  
  
"Perhaps but we really have to get going. We have a long way to  
travel." said Ryoga as he got up.  
  
"You have time for this. Russia is a big place and it will take many  
days to reach your destination."  
  
"Ryoga, why are we in Russia?" asked Ranma as he gave the boy a glare.  
  
  
"Uhh, I knew where we were. I got a tip he was coming here," said  
Ryoga nervously.  
  
"Yeah right." muttered Ranma.  
  
"It is possible your friend speaks the truth. The man known as Ryu has  
been known to travel as far as Moscow," said Rose coolly.  
  
"I guess we got time then," said Ranma.  
  
Ryoga growled and sat down again.  
  
"That is good," said the woman as she placed the cards down. In the  
center she placed two and then she placed four other cards around  
them. One of the center cards had a two faced woman. "This represents  
you, both of you have more than one face."  
  
Ranma and Ryoga said nothing, but shifted uncomfortably in their  
seats.  
  
She then indicated the one above it. "Nobility representing honor and  
courage. This is how you see one another."  
  
"Pure crap," muttered Ryoga.  
  
"It does not mean you like each other. It simply means you know you  
can count on each other when the need arises. It is a very strong  
bond, often only the greatest of enemies or the best of friends come  
to this level," said Rose with a knowing smile.  
  
She reached and flipped one of the cards over. "Chaos. This card  
represents your past," she said to them.  
  
"I'll say," muttered Ryoga.  
  
"Ah, the traveler. You are on a journey. This is the present," she  
said ignoring Ryoga.  
  
"Pretty good," said Ranma coolly.  
  
"The tower, stability and strength, but also change. This is your  
fate," said the woman with a smile.  
Ranma and Ryoga looked at her calmly and said nothing.  
  
"The devil. Evil, this represents your destiny. You must face a great  
power, a very strong dark force," said Rose with a frown.  
  
Ranma and Ryoga paled when she turned the next card. "Death," she said  
with a look of surprise. She smiled when she saw their faces. "Fear  
not, although it may well represent the end of your lives. It can also  
mean a great change. It is not necessarily a bad card," she said as  
she placed another card across the top. "The arch angel. Through  
sacrifice a great evil will be destroyed."  
  
"Sacrifice?" asked Ryoga uncomfortably.  
  
"Not necessarily by the two of you. It could be another, however it  
may be your sacrifice. The cards never lie, but they can be vague,"  
said the woman to him. "The last card. The ring, a complete circle of  
events. A new beginning so to speak, or the revival of an old one,"  
said Rose as she looked at them. "You two have an interesting future.  
I wish you luck on your journey," she said to them as they walked out  
of the door she indicated to them.  
  
"Thanks, for all your help," said Ryoga as he walked out.  
  
She watched them leave and looked at the card in her hand. 'The  
devil.' "They are young to face such a destiny. I hope they will be  
ready, I fear it has already found them." she said to herself.  
  
"Indeed," said a voice on the wind. Rose felt a wave of fear course  
through her. She turned and felt a powerful presence move past a few  
miles away.  
  
"God protect them," she said in fear and wonder as she fell to the  
ground clutching her chest.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
One week later...  
  
Ranma stood in the center of the lot. Various scattered construction  
tools lay on the ground around the ring and men watched from an  
unfinished building nearby as they drunk and shouted.  
  
"What the hell is this?" he said looking around for his opponent. "Are  
we gonna get started or not?" said Ranma in frustration. Then a long  
shadow loomed over him from above. "Oh, shit," he said as he turned  
slowly.  
  
Ryoga watched from a nearby fence and smiled. Around him the drunken  
Russians were shouting cheers for the muscular man. "Zangief!" they  
cried.  
  
"Well Ranma let's see how well you handle this," said Ryoga with a  
smile.  
  
Ranma jumped at the much larger man and punched him in the face.  
Zangief merely swatted him out of the air to the ground. Ranma hit the  
ground rolling and stood shakily. "Damn he's strong," he said to  
himself. The large wrestler charged at Ranma and spun around in an  
attempt to clothesline the smaller martial artist. "But he moves like  
a tank," thought Ranma with a smile. Zangief smiled and dove at Ranma  
with his arms spread. Ranma jumped away and the wrestler landed  
leaving an impact crater.  
  
"You not stay away forever little man," said the brute in passable  
Japanese.  
  
Ranma lifted his fist and smiled. "I don't have to!"  
  
The wrestler grabbed for Ranma and he ducked under his massive arms.  
Ranma swung at his gut once and rolled out of range of the larger  
fighter's grasp and waited for a moment. Zangief rubbed his side and  
fell to one knee. "You punch hard little one."  
  
Ryoga stood and gasped as he realized what Ranma was doing. "That's  
the same trick he used when I trained for the breaking point!" he  
thought. Ranma was using his Chestnut fist trained reflexes to hit the  
same spot hundreds of times; It was so fast that it looked like a  
single attack.  
  
Ranma charged again, this time the wrestler grabbed him. "Oh shit!"  
thought Ranma as he was suplexed onto the pavement hard. Zangief  
laughed and lifted Ranma by his legs. The wrestler jumped into the air  
and came down with Ranma in a pile driver. The boy fell to the ground  
limply.  
  
Ryoga gasped as the wrestler began to walk away. "Ranma get up!" he  
cried angrily. Ranma stayed down as the wrestler walked away. "How  
dare you lose like that?!" cried Ryoga angrily.  
  
"Ryoga you jerk. You think that would take me out?" said Ranma as he  
stood and wavered for a moment on his feet.  
  
Zangief turned slowly. "As I thought, Pile driver still needs work."  
he snorted. "Come boy, you good fight I give you that."  
  
Ranma jumped into the air and kicked at Zangief's head.  
  
The wrestler tried to grab him again and frowned when his opponent  
snaked just out of his grasp in the air.  
"I can't let him get his hands on me again." Thought the boy as he  
backed away.  
  
Zangief smiled. "You see? Not beat Russian strength!" he said smugly  
to Ranma.  
  
"Oh Yea?! Hado ken!" cried Ranma as he shot a fireball at the  
wrestler.  
  
"That's it!" cried Ryoga as he stood and watched Ranma's ki blast.  
"How dare you flaunt that at me Saotome!"  
  
The wrestler smiled as the blast neared him. His hand glowed and he  
swatted the fireball out of the air. It spun out of control before  
coming down hard in a pile of barrels sending them flying. "You no  
beat Zangief that easy. I banish fire attack with my fist!" said the  
wrestler as he allowed his hand to glow again.  
  
"I'm in trouble," thought Ranma as Zangief charged him.  
  
He ducked out of the wrestlers way and frowned as he tried to think of  
a way to get through his massive defenses. He could not take another  
of the man's throws. "I've got it!" he cried as Zangief charged again.  
  
Ryoga smiled as Ranma began to form the spiral that was so chillingly  
familiar to him. "So its come to that?"  
  
"What do you mean? He's running away!" cried one of the men near him  
in frustration.  
  
"You think so?" asked Ryoga.  
  
"Stop running little chicken!" roared Zangief in frustration as he  
chased Ranma around the ring.  
  
"Who is running?" retorted Ranma as he stopped.  
  
"I have you!" cried Zangief as he leapt into the air at Ranma.  
  
"No, I have you!" cried Ranma as he punched into the air. "Hiryu  
shouten ha!"  
  
The tornado and shot into the air consumed Zangief. Ranma watched as  
the wrestler was thrown high into the air and then spun to the ground  
hard headfirst. Zangief stayed standing on his head for a moment and  
then groaned and fell over unconscious. All around him men cried in  
anger and joy as they collected or lost money.  
  
"You were right buddy! I tripled my money!" said the man next to Ryoga  
as he kissed his ticket.  
  
"Whatever," snorted Ryoga as he walked over to Ranma.  
  
"You knew about him didn't you?" growled Ranma as he walked up to his  
companion. He was rubbing his shoulders and frowning as he popped his  
neck. "That hurt."  
  
"So? You won didn't you?" said Ryoga coolly.  
  
"Look jerk..." started Ranma, but he was cut off by a loud laughter.  
  
Zangief was almost rolling on the floor. "I think he lost it!" said  
Ryoga. The larger man walked over and grabbed Ranma's hand.  
  
"I thank you little man. I found inspiration! Now I can perfect pile  
driver!" said Zangief with a smile.  
  
"Uh, your welcome?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Is good fight. I hope to face again when I perfected my move," said  
the wrestler as he walked off chuckling to himself. "Oh, yes. I hear  
you looking for Ryu," he said as he turned to face the pair.  
  
"You know where he is?" asked Ryoga.  
  
"No, but I meet before; word underground say he go to India, near  
Calcutta for meditation. Is just rumor but hey..." said the man  
shrugging his shoulders.  
  
"Thanks," said Ranma looking bewildered.  
  
"Is OK now we even," said the wrestler as he walked away.  
  
"Well let's get going," said Ryoga.  
  
"What? Ryoga do you have any Idea how far away India is?" said Ranma  
angrily.  
  
"A few days walk?" said Ryoga obliviously.  
  
"Arrrggghh!" cried Ranma in frustration.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The world!  
  
Part 8: Ryoga! Master of the Hado ken!  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma and Ryoga stood in the dusty streets of Calcutta. They had  
arrived at the airport a few hours ago.  
  
"So, now what?" said Ranma as he watched the people walk by.  
  
"You're asking me? I still think it was a waste of money to fly here.  
It only took us three hours to fly, how much longer could it have  
taken us to walk?" said Ryoga bitterly.  
  
"Jeez, get over it P-chan." muttered Ranma as he noticed a crowd  
forming in front of a nearby bar.  
  
"Please mistress, allow me," said a voice as Ranma and Ryoga  
approached the bar. A moment later three men were violently thrown  
from the bar directly in their path.  
  
"Interesting," said Ryoga as he cracked his knuckles.  
  
Inside the bar the pair came upon a strange sight. A young girl  
dressed in Persian clothing was standing off against an older European  
woman. Next to them a large man dressed like a wrestler stood dusting  
his hands off. "Now little one I suggest you apologize," said the man.  
  
"Darrun, this one is mine," said the woman as she stood and removed  
her skirt, she was dressed in a light blue leotard and had short brown  
hair that was pinned up on the back of her head.  
  
"Yes mistress Blair," said the man bowing to her. It was obvious he  
did not like her fighting, he seemed to accept it though.  
  
"How dare you threaten a girl like that?!" cried Ryoga angrily as he  
rushed by Ranma and charged the large man.  
  
"Oh, man," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"What?" said Darrun in surprise as he turned to see an angry Ryoga  
standing before him.  
  
"Have you no shame? No honor?" yelled Ryoga as he fumed.  
  
"Look little man, I got a job to do, so if you don't leave now you'll  
end up like my friends here," said Darrun as he indicated the broken  
window the unfortunate patrons had used to exit the bar.  
  
"I'd like to see ya try," growled Ryoga.  
  
Darrun swung at Ryoga. The boy grabbed his arm threw him to the  
ground. The wrestler stood and charged at Ryoga with his arms spread.  
Ryoga kicked him in the face and back flipped off it. Darrun was sent  
to the ground again, but refused to stay down. Ryoga was growing  
impatient. "If you don't stay down you'll regret it."  
  
"A shrimp like you can't beat me!" cried Darrun as he charged again  
with his arms flailing.  
  
"All right that's it! Hado Shi shi houkou dan!!" yelled Ryoga as he  
blasted the man into a wall. Darrun hit hard and left an impact crater  
six feet in diameter. He glared at Ryoga and stood again.  
  
"What is this guy made of?!" thought Ryoga in shock.  
  
"I will not lose." spat Darrun as he charged Ryoga and grabbed him. He  
lifted him into the air and fell back into a suplex. Just as he was  
about to hit the ground he heard Ryoga yell.  
  
"Bakusai Tenketsu!" cried Ryoga as the ground closed in on him. He  
felt the dusty floor swell and explode sending the pair into the air.  
Ryoga shifted as Darrun's grip loosened and he kicked the man in the  
chest. Darrun was slammed into the ground and knocked out cold. Ryoga  
was launched higher into the air and flipped clumsily as he came down  
several feet away on his feet. He watched his opponent for a moment  
and smiled as he stayed down. Then he heard cheering.  
  
"Way to go Ryoga!" cried Ranma as he collected a wad of bills from the  
European.  
  
She looked disappointed but not upset. The young Persian girl smirked  
"That's what I would have done to him."  
  
"Hey Ryoga, dinner is on you tonight," said Ranma as he waved the wad  
in the air. "Oh yeah, This is Brair. And Purrum?" said Ranma with a  
questioning glance.  
  
"That's Blair," said the European.  
  
"Pullum actually, but you can call me whatever you want." said the  
younger girl with a seductive look.  
  
"Uh, yeah," said Ranma nervously.  
  
"So why are you guys here?" Pullum with a smile.  
  
"We're looking for someone," said Ranma as he returned her smile.  
  
"Quit flirting you pervert. I won't have you cheating on Akane like  
that!" yelled Ryoga as he hit Ranma on the back of his head.  
  
"Ow! You jerk!" yelled Ranma obliviously. The two girls got slightly  
disappointed looks on their faces, but Ranma didn't seem to notice.  
  
"Are you looking for Shadowloo?" asked the Pullum as she became  
serious.  
  
"Huh? No, were looking for a man named Ryu; but we had some trouble  
related to this Shadowloo character in China," said Ryoga with a  
slightly surprised look.  
  
"Shadowloo isn't a man, it's an organization. It's a powerful  
underworld crime syndicate. I thought everyone knew that," said Blair.  
  
  
"Ryu, I've heard of him, world champion street fighter isn't he?" said  
Pullum with a frown.  
"Yeah," said Ryoga.  
  
"Well he's supposed to come here every few years or so to stay with  
some of the holy men in a shrine outside of town," said Blair with an  
amused look.  
  
"Really? Where?" asked Ranma as he suddenly perked up.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
A few hours later Ranma and Ryoga stood outside an abandoned temple.  
  
"This can't be it, its deserted," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"So you are the men who seek Ryu." said a voice.  
  
Ranma and Ryoga jumped and stood back to back. "Who's there?" said  
Ryoga.  
  
A man appeared before him. He was thin and he had painted markings  
that covered his face, he wore simple robes and floated in a yoga  
position several feet off the ground.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Ranma as he took up a defensive position next to  
Ryoga.  
  
"I am called Dhalsim. I will not attack you, this is sacred ground,"  
said the man as he floated down to the ground.  
  
"What do you want?" asked Ryoga.  
  
"I might ask you the same thing," said Dhalsim calmly.  
  
"We're looking for Ryu," said Ranma.  
  
"Why?" asked Dhalsim in an emotionless monotone that unnerved Ranma a  
great deal.  
  
"Why should we tell you?" asked Ryoga nervously.  
  
"Because I may choose to help you. He is no longer here, as this  
temple has been abandoned, he has gone elsewhere to meditate," replied  
the monk.  
  
"We want to learn Sho ryu ken from him," said Ranma after a moment of  
silence.  
  
"I see," said Dhalsim.  
  
After a few moments of silence Ranma spoke up. "Well? are you going to  
help us?"  
  
"No, it is a journey you must partake upon yourselves that will  
release the dragon. Even Ryu himself cannot help you," said the monk.  
  
"Do you know where he went at least?" said Ryoga with a sigh.  
  
"Spain," said Dhalsim flatly.  
  
"Thanks," said Ranma as he walked off.  
  
"Yeah, I guess," said Ryoga as he followed.  
  
"Boy, The power does not lie within you, you must learn that it is  
like dragons breath. To form the flame from within would harm the  
beast, you must realize this or it will destroy you from within," said  
Dhalsim calmly to a confused Ryoga.  
  
"You commin?!" called Ranma as Ryoga watched the man vanish.  
  
"Y-yeah." answered Ryoga as he chased after him.  
  
"Man that was weird," said Ranma as he sat across from Ryoga at a  
small restaurant in the city.  
  
"I'll say," muttered Ryoga.  
  
"What did that guy say to you any way?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Something about the dragon's breath. I didn't understand really,"  
said Ryoga.  
  
Ranma stared at him for a moment and sighed. "Ryoga, he was trying to  
tell you how to do the Hado ken."  
  
"What?!" said Ryoga in surprise.  
  
"I can't explain it to you Ryoga you just have to figure it out. I'm  
sure you will," said Ranma with a small grin.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga sat quietly and watched Ranma eat in disgust. "You don't have to  
eat like that ya know. Your father isn't here," he said after a few  
moments.  
  
"Yeah, look who's talkin," said Ranma as he noted the empty plates in  
front of Ryoga.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?!" cried Ryoga as he stood angrily.  
  
"What do you think? You pig," snorted Ranma. Then he realized his  
mistake. "Wait Ryoga, I forgot really..."  
  
"Raaannnmaaaa! How dare you?!" yelled Ryoga as his battle aura grew.  
  
"Calm down Ryoga!" cried Ranma in a panic as the other patrons fled.  
  
"Calm down! Calm down?! After what you said to me?!! Hado ken!" cried  
Ryoga in anger.  
  
Ranma was blasted out of the restaurant through the wall as the ball  
of energy slammed into him. He landed against the wall outside and  
slumped into a pile if garbage. "Jerk," he muttered as he stood and  
dusted himself off.  
  
Ryoga just stood and stared at what he had done. "What just happened?"  
he said out loud as he looked at his shaking hands. He ran out the  
hole and looked around. "Hey Ranma I did it!" he cried happily.  
  
"Hado ken!" cried a voice and Ryoga was blasted into the side of a  
dumpster.  
  
"OW! Why did you do that you jerk?!" he cried as he picked himself  
from the crushed metal box and saw Ranma beside him.  
  
"Now we're even."  
  
"I'll show you even!" yelled Ryoga as he charged at Ranma.  
  
"Hey cut it out! Were even already!" cried Ranma as the pair chased  
each other off into the night.  
  
  



	3. part 9-12

+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The world 9: Spain!  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma sat on the plane and frowned. Ryoga wandered around the front  
half of the jet and bothered the captain and stewardesses as he  
searched in vain for the bathroom. An hour and a half later Ryoga  
returned to his seat escorted by one of the stewardesses. "You could  
have helped you know," grumbled Ryoga.  
  
"I told you where it was six times Ryoga what more did you want?" said  
Ranma as he smiled at the woman who had brought his companion back in  
thanks.  
  
Ryoga frowned and said nothing. The pair sat for a while and Ryoga  
finally broke the silence. "I still don't understand how I did it."  
  
"What?" said Ranma.  
  
"The Hado ken stupid. I don't get it, what's the difference? I don't  
understand. I still use the same amount of chi right?" said Ryoga more  
to himself that Ranma.  
  
"Not exactly, think back to the Hado Shi shi houkou dan. What happened  
after you did it?" said Ranma looking annoyed.  
  
"What? Nothing..." said Ryoga.  
  
"You didn't get a stomach ache or nothin?" said Ranma.  
  
"Huh? yeah, what's that got to do with...Wait a minute, you right!  
Every time. I never thought about it," said Ryoga in shock.  
  
"Has it happened since you learned Hado ken?" asked Ranma.  
  
"No. Why not?" said Ryoga.  
  
"You dope, for the Shi shi houko dan you gather your own life force in  
your abdomen right?" said Ranma.  
  
"Yeah and I push it out through my hands, just like your Moukou  
takabishi, so?" Ryoga was getting annoyed.  
  
"Are you that dense? The Hado ken uses raw life energy gathered from  
outside your body. We got so accustomed to gathering chi like that We  
were trying to do Hado ken that way. It was tearing our bodies apart.  
Kinda like trying to run a car on crude oil instead of gas," said  
Ranma smugly.  
  
"I get it! We still use our chi center to gather Ki but we form it  
outside our bodies in our hands!" said Ryoga as he finally understood.  
  
  
"See that wasn't so hard P-chan, you should try thinking more often,"  
said Ranma with a smile.  
  
"What did you call me?!" yelled Ryoga.  
  
"Calm down Ryoga we're two miles above the ground!" cried Ranma.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
A few hours later a wet and beaten Ranma walked off the plane followed  
by an angry looking Ryoga. "Stupid jerk."  
  
"Shut up Ranma this is all your fault," said Ryoga bitterly.  
  
"Give it a rest pig," said Ranma to herself as she walked into the  
customs line. She pulled out her second passport and smiled at the man  
at the counter.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked out the hotel window and frowned as P-chan emerged from  
the shower squealing loudly. "What's the matter Ryoga? No hot water?"  
she said with a smile.  
  
P-chan nodded and grunted. "Well you can just stay that way for a  
while. That's for throwing that drink cart at me on the plane," said  
Ranma with a smirk. P-chan growled and bit her ankle.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Dear Akane,  
  
Me and Ryoga arrived in Spain today. This Ryu guy really gets around!  
We finally achieved Hado ken and hopefully have gotten closer to Sho  
ryu ken. Ryoga had to walk around for an hour and a half to find the  
bathroom on an airplane. The stupid jerk. Surprisingly we're getting  
along pretty well. Later we're gonna do some sight seeing. I hope it's  
not too much of a chore dragging lost boy in the right direction.  
We're gonna do some askin' around too. We've tracked the guy this far  
we might as well go all the way. I can only hope we find him soon so I  
can finally get home.  
  
I miss all of you. I'm even starting to miss the Kunos. Scary huh?  
  
Ja,  
  
Ranma.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Dearest Akari,  
  
Ranma is still as big a pain in the ass as he always was. I hate his  
guts. He finally got what he deserved in China when he got arrested.  
Too bad he got away. I try to be civil but he keeps opening his mouth  
and screwing every thing up. We landed in Barcelona a little while  
ago. I think that's in Germany or something. The stupid jerk probably  
got lost but he won't admit it to me. We're supposed to be in Spain.  
Maybe he'll keep quiet and I won't have to kick his ass again. I hope  
you are well. I miss Japan and you as well.  
till we meet again,  
  
Ryoga.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Nerima...  
  
"He didn't say anything to me about being arrested!" cried Akane as  
she read Akari's letter.  
  
"He probably didn't want you to worry. My Ryoga-kun is so considerate  
to write me like that on his training trip. Just like a pig!" squealed  
Akari as she sat with her on the porch of the Tendo home.  
  
"If he's wanted in China then he can't go back. That means he can't  
marry Shampoo...not that I care," said Akane to herself. "I'll kill  
him when he gets back. He's a criminal now!"  
  
Akari hugged her letter to her chest. She smiled when she noticed how  
tightly Akane held her own.  
  
"I wonder how he's paying for this? That hotel is expensive," said  
Nabiki from behind the pair.  
  
"What?" said the two girls in unison to her.  
  
"Look at this, they flew from China to India to Spain? Then they stay  
at this hotel? Where are they getting all this cash?" she wondered out  
loud.  
  
"What? What hotel?" said Akane.  
  
"Akane that stationary is from one of the more expensive hotels in  
Spain. It would cost about a million yen to stay for one day," said  
Nabiki to them.  
  
"What?!" cried Akane in shock. Akari just smiled cheerfully. "I knew  
it! He's a bank robber! I'll kill him!" cried Akane in anger again.  
  
"How romantic!" squealed Akari.  
  
Nabiki just sighed.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma and Ryoga sat at a bar after a fruitless search for information  
leading to Ryu. "I'll buy you one," said Ryoga with a sigh.  
  
"Huh, ok..." said Ranma halfheartedly.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
An hour later...  
  
"You're my best pal," slurred Ryoga with tears in his eyes as he  
hugged Ranma.  
  
"Heh, thash pathet...pathetic. We beat the crap out of each others all  
the time," slurred Ranma with a grin.  
  
"But...I loves you man," said Ryoga sadly.  
  
"Gee I loves you too," said Ranma as he began to cry as well.  
  
"Hey, don't gets weird on me palllllllll. I'll kick your ass," said  
Ryoga as he steadied himself on the bar.  
  
Ranma snorted. "My kid could kick your ass Ryoga."  
  
"Akane's preg...havin a kid?" said Ryoga as he seemed to clear up.  
  
"Heh nope," said Ranma happily.  
  
"Oh that's ok then...But my kid could beat your kids ass," said Ryoga  
as he started to fall again.  
  
"No way Ryoga, my ssson would beat the...crap out of your kiddd,"  
replied Ranma.  
  
"You sayin my kid ain't strong?" said Ryoga as he clumsily grabbed  
Ranma's collar.  
  
"No, My, my, kid...he'sss jussst stronger that your...kid." said Ranma  
as he snickered and gave Ryoga a drunken punch.  
  
"Oh, I guess that's ok then." slurred Ryoga.  
  
"I know!! we'll have them have a man ta man fight when they grow up!"  
said Ryoga happily.  
  
"Hey, good, good, good Idea, Hey, waitaminiut, What if one of us has a  
girl?" said Ranma as he perked up.  
  
"They'll just have to get married," snorted Ryoga.  
  
"Yeah, hey bartender. Bring me two pieces of paper and a pen OK?!"  
said Ranma loudly.  
  
Damn Japanese tourist. muttered the man as he complied.  
  
"Why two?" asked Ryoga in drunken interest.  
  
"That way we can both hava contract," said Ranma.  
  
"Oh," said Ryoga as he signed his name to both pages.  
  
"This way the Saotome and Hibiki schools of martial arts will be  
joined," said Ranma as he wrote out the contract and snickered to  
himself.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The World part 10  
  
The ninja strikes.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma and Ryoga wandered into a bar and sat at the counter. "Hey,  
where can we find some information on someone named Ryu?" said Ranma  
as he held up a large bill to the bar tender.  
  
The man took it and nodded over to a corner where a man sat alone. He  
was well built, had a large wide brimmed hat on his head that hid his  
eyes and tied around his neck was a bandanna. Ranma and Ryoga walked  
over to him. "Wada ya want?"  
  
"We're looking for someone," answered Ryoga as he eyed him carefully.  
There was something about this man that disturbed him slightly. Ranma  
looked relaxed and calm.  
  
"Well, I'd say you found someone, eh?" answered the man with a small  
chuckle. He stood and pulled a bat from under the table. He rested it  
on his shoulder and grinned at the pair with an unfriendly stare.  
  
"Look we just want a little information, we're not out for trouble,"  
said Ranma carefully.  
  
The man swung the bat and Ranma ducked, Ryoga simply caught it in his  
palm. The man frowned and stepped back into a fighting stance. "I'm  
sick of them sending you young punks to me. I left Italy to get away  
from you little bastards and they still send you. I'll teach you the  
same way I taught the others," snarled the man as he back handed Ryoga  
in the face and sent him into the bar.  
  
Ranma jumped towards him and punched the man in the face easily  
avoiding his swings.  
  
"Ranma no, I want this one," said Ryoga as he stood and shook his  
head. He didn't know what that bat was made of but it hit just as hard  
as his umbrella did. He pulled it off his back and stood ready for the  
man's attack. The man charged and Ryoga blocked the bat with his  
weapon. He punched the man in the stomach and received a hard uppercut  
for his efforts. Both men staggered back. Ryoga growled and charged  
in, the man swung up with the bat and took Ryoga dead in the jaw.  
Ryoga was sent over several tables and crashed to the ground between  
several patrons.  
  
"Home run!" said the man as he turned back to his table. Ryoga stood  
and snarled the man turned and smiled as he realized that he had more  
fight left in him. "Go back to your mom weakling."  
  
"I'll show you weak! Hado ken!" cried Ryoga as he shot a chi blast at  
the man.  
He simply smiled and readied himself like a baseball player. With a  
grunt he swung and slammed his bat into the fireball and sent it  
directly into Ryoga's chest. The lost boy was thrown into the wall  
from his own attack and slumped to the ground.  
  
"Pathetic," snorted the man as he walked back to his table and lifted  
his drink to his mouth.  
  
"Its not over yet, not by a long shot!" said a voice from behind him.  
The man turned to see Ryoga standing with a large grin on his face.  
"Let's finish this."  
  
"Kid I'm gonna make you sorry you were ever born. No one gets between  
a man and his beer," snarled the man as he stared Ryoga down.  
  
Ryoga just stared right back, no fear, just determination. "You can't  
make me sorry I was born, that's his job," said Ryoga jerking his  
thumb towards Ranma.  
  
"Hey!" cried Ranma defensively.  
  
The man simply charged and swung at Ryoga who stopped the bat easily  
with his hand. The man tried to follow up with a punch but Ryoga  
ducked under the bat and elbowed him in the gut. The man bent forward  
and Ryoga kneed his chest sending him to the floor.  
  
"Little bastard!" cried the man in anger as he swung the bat full  
force Ryoga dodged and parried with his umbrella for several minutes  
while the man destroyed the bar in his rage. He swung at Ryoga and the  
lost boy stopped his bat with a single finger. "Impossible!" he cried  
angrily.  
  
"Let's see how well you do without your bat," sneered Ryoga as the bat  
cracked and then shattered.  
  
The man yelled in rage and charged Ryoga who sidestepped and brought  
his umbrella down hard on the back of his head. The man fell to the  
floor unconscious.  
  
"What happened? You were getting the crap beat out of you," said Ranma  
with a bewildered stare. "How'd you get so much better all of a  
sudden?"  
  
"Easy, I fought him like I have to fight you," snorted Ryoga.  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Usually I can just overpower my opponents, but when I meet someone  
stronger or faster than me I have to fight with skill instead of  
strength," answered Ryoga.  
  
"Why don't you just fight like that all the time?" asked Ranma dumbly.  
  
  
"Because it isn't really necessary with most opponents. It takes less  
energy for me to take a hit than to dodge it. The breaking point  
training made it so only someone really strong could hurt me, you know  
that," said Ryoga with an annoyed glare.  
  
"I'd rather just not get hit," replied Ranma.  
  
"That's because you're weak," snorted Ryoga.  
  
"I'm strong enough to kick your butt!" retorted Ranma angrily.  
  
"We'll see about that!" cried Ryoga as he swung.  
  
In the shadows two figures watched from separate corners of the room.  
"That one had grace and beauty. He is almost as handsome as I. Perhaps  
we were destined for one another? I shall meet him, we shall fight and  
it should be a glorious battle. Only handsome fighters win true  
combat; but what if both are fair?" said one to himself as he sipped  
his wine and watched the exchange coolly. Ranma stood and pushed Ryoga  
to the floor with his foot as the lost boy shoved his head back with  
his hand and struggled to rise. "To find such strength in one so fair  
arouses me."  
  
Ranma stopped and looked around.  
  
"What are you doing? We're fighting dammit! How dare you ignore me!"  
snapped Ryoga as he got in a cheap shot on the boy's head.  
  
"I think we should leave," said Ranma finally.  
  
"What? Why?" said Ryoga.  
  
"I just got a weird feeling. Kinda like what I felt before I met  
Kodachi or when Ukyo and Shampoo arrived in Nerima. I just think we  
should go," said Ranma as he looked around warily.  
  
The bartender simply stood and cleaned glasses and most of the  
customers had fled the chaos. The only ones who remained were a few  
die hards at the bar and a few people sitting in booths.  
  
"That's redicu..." Ryoga stopped as he felt a familiar presence. "For  
once I think your right Saotome. We won't find anything out here."  
  
"Humph, They are still not ready." snorted the other figure in the  
shadows as an aura glowed around him. "But perhaps the other one  
watching..."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma and Ryoga sat in their hotel room later that night and collapsed  
on the beds. "Ranma this is getting expensive, we have to find this  
guy," said Ryoga.  
  
"Duh braniac, you think I didn't know that?" snorted Ranma as he  
buried his head in the pillow. Ryoga was too tired to argue with him.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Late that night Ranma snapped awake and sat up. He turned and looked  
around the room warily. "Who's in here?" he cried.  
  
Ryoga groaned in his sleep and tossed his pillow at the noise  
unconsciously sending Ranma to the floor. "Dammit Ryoga!" he muttered  
as he picked himself up. He turned to the table and reached for the  
lamp. His fingers brushed against something and he grabbed it and  
turned the light on. "A letter?" he muttered as he looked at the  
envelope in his hand. He turned to see the window was still open. He  
growled and opened the note carefully.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Dear sir,  
  
Information on the man who you seek has come into the hands of our  
honored host. We ask that you come to his home and negotiate terms for  
the information. You will be received tomorrow evening at nine  
o'clock. Please go to the address on the card enclosed.  
  
We eagerly await your arrival.  
  
++++++++++++++++++  
  
The next morning Ranma sat with Ryoga at a small cafe just outside the  
hotel. "So what do we do?"  
  
"We go, we can't find any information on our own. All we know is he  
was here. What else could we do?" answered Ranma.  
  
"It could be a trap, remember China?" said Ryoga warningly.  
  
"We don't have much choice, besides when has that ever stopped us?"  
said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Maybe it should," said Ryoga with a small grin.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
That night Ranma and Ryoga stood at the door of a large mansion. It  
opened after a moment and a stuffy looking butler greeted them.  
  
"Yes?" he said.  
  
"We received this last night," said Ranma as he held out the  
invitation.  
  
"This way," said the man as he led them through the elaborate home.  
They were taken to a small stairway and led into a dark room with a  
large fenced in arena. On a stage a band played and women danced  
excitedly, as guest drank and laughed around the cage. The pair were  
taken to a table and sat near the entrance to the cage.  
  
"At least we got good seats," snorted Ryoga.  
  
The lights dimmed and a shadowy figure entered the large cage in the  
middle of the room. The crowd cheered as he waved at them, a spotlight  
shining down on him from above. He had long brown hair that was  
braided to the small of his back and a long snake tattoo that went  
around his torso from his waist to his chest. He was wearing a  
porcelain mask and had a long set of claws on his right hand.  
  
"Vega!" cried the crowed excitedly. Ranma frowned and stood.  
  
"Ah my handsome friend you have arrived. I am called Vega, I have  
something you want," said the man as he climbed into the cage.  
  
Ranma felt very uncomfortable under his gaze. "You have information on  
Ryu?"  
  
"That I do, If you want it I'm afraid you'll have to defeat me," said  
the man as he bowed dramatically.  
  
Ranma smiled and cracked his knuckles. "I've got no problem with  
that," he said as he jumped over the fence and into the ring with  
Vega.  
  
Ryoga frowned and looked at the wall behind him. Hanging there were  
hundreds of scalps. "I've got a feeling you may have gotten in over  
your head Saotome," He said to himself as he turned towards the ring.  
  
Ranma bowed to his opponent and Vega saluted him by bringing his claw  
up to his chest. "Well lets see which of us is truly the more fair,"  
said Vega with a confident air about him.  
  
"What?" said Ranma with a cold glare.  
  
"Truly you must understand, that only those who hold such beauty as us  
may win a battle. It is the way of things," said Vega.  
  
"I know a guy a lot like you back home, he is just as arrogant and air  
headed," snorted Ranma calmly.  
  
"Your words sting me my love; surely we shall make the ultimate love  
as we dance in combat to the death. Surely one with beauty such as  
yours can appreciate such a glorious battle," said Vega as he finally  
stood ready.  
  
"This guy is nuts!" thought Ranma as he prepared himself.  
  
Vega yelled and charged towards Ranma with his claw raised...  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. the world part 11.  
  
The iron cage and the dragon fist.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma rolled to the side as Vega's claw came down and struck the  
ground where he had been only moments before. He jumped back and shot  
a few jabs towards the man. Vega moved fluidly out of the way of all  
his strikes and slashed at him again with the claw. Ranma moved aside,  
but not before Vega shaved the bottom of his pigtail slightly. He  
ducked with blinding speed and tried for the ninja's feet with a low  
sweep only to have Vega jab at his leg forcing him to back off.  
  
"Damn I gotta get that claw away from him!" thought Ranma in a panic.  
  
Vega laughed and stood arrogantly a few yards away from him. "Come now  
fool, surely you can do better. I was expecting a challenge from one  
as fair as you."  
  
Ranma growled and glared at him evenly. "I'll give you a challenge!"  
he roared as he charged Vega sending a volley of amaguriken speed  
punches at the man. Vega reeled back as he was struck dead on and  
slammed into the fence.  
  
Ranma charged and kicked at him while he was leaning against it. Vega  
grabbed the fence and lifted himself into the air with his legs over  
his head. Ranma's kick hit the fence at the same moment as Vega let go  
and tackled him. The boy screamed in pain as the claws were jammed  
into his shoulder hard. Vega smiled as he felt the tendons snap and  
then the solidity of the concrete floor as the blades impaled the  
boy's arm completely. He twisted his hand before pulling back and  
raising his hand for another strike.  
Ranma's arm screamed again as the man slowly pulled the blades out.  
  
The ninja had made a fatal mistake however, when he left the boy's  
legs free. Ranma kicked up and grabbed the sides of Vega's head with  
his feet. He smiled darkly as he saw the surprise register in the  
man's face as he lifted him into the air and slammed his head down  
into the concrete as hard as he could. Vega rolled with the blow and  
Ranma cursed as he stood shakily. Vega stood across the arena and  
shook his head to clear the daze.  
  
Ranma grit his teeth and closed his fist as he gathered the ki from  
the air around him. "Bastard. Eat this Hado ken!" he lifted his good  
arm and shot a large blast of energy at Vega. Unfortunately the blast  
knocked him back into the fence and caused him to jam his injured  
shoulder. He growled and grit his teeth as the pain blacked his vision  
out for a moment.  
  
Vega saw the blast coming and back flipped twice as it neared him,  
just as it was about to catch him he flipped onto the side of the  
fence and kicked off it over the fireball. He hit the ground rolling  
and stopped dead in front of the still dazed Ranma stabbing his right  
upper thigh this time.  
  
Ranma screamed again and swung at the ninja forcing him to back off  
for a moment. He kicked Vega in the chest and turned into a vicious  
elbow at his neck. Vega staggered but recovered quickly and rolled  
between Ranma's wide stance slashing his right leg again as he passed.  
He then turned and swept the boy's legs from under him.  
  
Ranma hit the floor hard and his head cracked the floor as it hit. He  
quickly rolled to the side as Vega's claw came down where his head  
was. The boy stood quickly and wavered for a moment on his good leg.  
  
"I knew you were worthy of me. No one has given me this much trouble  
for some time my friend," said the man as he removed this mask.  
  
Ranma smiled and tapped a fragment of the cracked floor up with a  
light tap of his shoe. Vega's eyes went wide as Ranma then quickly  
kicked it and sent it into his face. Vega screamed as if he had just  
had his face ripped off. He clutched his face and glared at Ranma  
through his fingers with wild eyes. A small cut had formed on his face  
and was bleeding slightly.  
  
"I will kill you," said Vega with a now deadly calm.  
  
"Just try it," sneered Ranma as he put his hands up.  
  
Vega Charged forward and replaced his mask. Ranma tried to kick him  
back and he simply swiped his arm to the side.  
  
Ranma's eyes went wide at what he saw. His ankle had three blades  
sticking from it. He fell to the ground and yelled as he clutched it.  
Vega simply stood over him and watched as the blood ran down his  
claws.  
  
Ryoga frowned and glared into the cage. He realized what was going on.  
Ranma was trying to set up the heaven blast but his plan backfired in  
his face. "Ranma, don't you dare lose." he yelled.  
  
As he lay on the ground a plan formed in Ranma's mind. "It might  
work...if I can stand and last long enough to do it."  
  
Ranma stood shakily and watched Vega carefully. The man simply stood  
and did nothing but stare at him unmoving. He realized that if he  
attacked now he would probably be killed. So he waited.  
He didn't wait long however as Vega charged silently and slashed at  
the mostly immobile Ranma's arm.  
  
The boy ignored the pain and concentrated as the ninja moved in from  
behind him and took a shot at his back. Ranma managed to dodge it but  
was caught by the back swing in the chest. He fell to one knee and  
almost collapsed. Vega hopped higher and higher along the edge of the  
cage until he was almost to the top. Ranma grit his teeth and tried to  
focus the chi around him.  
  
Then Vega dove straight for him. "No! Too soon!" was all Ranma could  
think as he punched upwards reflexively. He felt an almost  
overwhelming power surge through him and he felt almost like he should  
be in the air but didn't quite make it.  
  
The next thing he knew Vega was flying up into the air away from him.  
The ninja landed roughly and stayed down.  
  
"What the hell was?" thought Ranma as he felt some one take his arm.  
He looked to see a sullen looking man in a Tuxedo holding his arm up  
silently.  
  
He shook him off and walked over to where Vega lay and knelt down  
beside him. He lifted the mask and frowned as he saw Vega glaring at  
him with hate filled eyes. A single trickle of blood ran from his  
mouth. "I won where is Ryu?"  
  
"I will never concede defeat," said Vega as he tried to raise his claw  
and failed.  
  
Ranma frowned and punched him dead in the face, and Vega ceased to  
move.  
  
"Our sources report that he was last sighted in England," said one of  
the servants just outside the cage.  
  
The crowd began to cheer loudly as Ranma exited the cage staggering  
and hopping on his one good leg.  
Ryoga was the first to meet him. "Was that?" he said looking at Ranma  
with a serious gaze.  
  
  
"It wasn't Sho ryu ken...but it was close," replied Ranma to the  
unfinished question.  
  
In the shadows a dark figure sneered at the spectacle. "It seems I was  
mistaken about the ninja, he'll be of little challenge. The boy  
however is coming close," it said as it watched.  
  
+++++++++++++++++  
  
Three days later the pair was on a plane bound for London.  
  
"Ranma maybe we should wait." said Ryoga. "You're in no condition to  
travel and you'll slow us down."  
  
"No, if we don't go now we may never find him," said Ranma sharply as  
he hobbled over to his seat with his crutches.  
  
Ryoga frowned and accepted it. "Ranma what was that thing you did in  
the ring?"  
  
"I don't really know. I was trying to do a stationary Hiryu shouten  
ha. I was focusing the ki in the air and trying to move it in a spiral  
when Vega attacked. I hadn't had time to charge it properly so I just  
let go with what I had. The next thing I knew I had won," said Ranma  
as he gazed out the window and watched the baggage load.  
  
"A stationary Hiryu shouten ha?" said Ryoga in surprise. "I didn't  
think you could."  
  
"Well I wouldn't know till I try will I? It would have worked if he  
had come a few seconds later."  
  
"Instead you got a sort of 'Ryu Ken'." said Ryoga thoughtfully.  
  
"Yeah, I was charging the cold energy in my fist when he attacked me,"  
said Ranma looking contemplative.  
  
"Cold energy?" said Ryoga skeptically.  
  
"Basically I was making sure there was no chi in my arm so it would  
get cool. That's what causes body heat, chi," said Ranma absently as  
he glared out the window.  
  
Ryoga smiled as the plane lifted off. He had a lot to think about on  
the way to England. However unintentionally Ranma had just taught him  
how to do the Hiryu shouten ha and maybe he had even given him the  
secret of the Shoryuken.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The world part 12.  
  
A gentlemen's game.  
  
Part 1: The proposal  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga staggered off the plane weary and drowsy from the flight. He had  
never experienced jet lag before and it was certainly an interesting  
experience for him. It felt like three a.m. to him and Ranma was  
practically fresh as a daisy.  
  
Still in crutches Ranma cheerfully hobbled his way down the hallway  
with Ryoga in tow. He stopped at a pub just outside the airport after  
they finished their trip through customs and there they sat down to  
eat just beside the bar.  
  
"So where do we go from here Ranma?" asked Ryoga looking more  
irritated than usual as he placed his wet umbrella across the back of  
his traveling bag.  
  
"We need a hotel at least," muttered the currently female Ranma as she  
shoved another sandwich in her mouth casually. The lost boy grumbled  
and simply sat with his eyes closed as the men at the bar quietly  
watched soccer with an occasional cheer.  
  
"I guess we can check out a few hot spots around later  
tonight...Ryoga?" Ranma noticed Ryoga was sitting in a rather relaxed  
position and drooling. "Dammit P-chan wake up! I can't carry you  
around on these stupid things!" she scolded giving him a whack on the  
head with one of the wooden crutches. Ryoga snapped awake and just  
snorted indifferently.  
  
"I heard you, let's just get to the hotel I can barely stand," he  
slurred.  
  
"I doubt if you'd make it jerk," grumbled Ranma as she stood to pay  
the check.  
  
At the bar Ranma's money was waved away. "It's been taken care of by  
the gentleman at the booth."  
  
"Huh?" said the girl in surprise. She turned to see a large black man  
sitting in a booth with a stiff collared shirt and a cup of tea in  
front of him. He waved her over and smiled as she sat.  
  
"Join me for a spot of tea?" he said calmly as she walked over.  
  
"Thanks, but I'm with someone," said Ranma warily.  
  
"Oh, bother I forgot to introduce myself. I am Duddly, world famous  
boxer and renowned sportsman. I was wondering...would your companion  
be Mr. Hibiki?"  
  
Ranma stopped cold. "What if he is?"  
  
"Oh don't be so worrisome, it's just that I have heard he was  
following Mr. Ryu with his companion Mr. Saotome and a rather  
attractive young woman. I would like to meet them; but I understand  
Mr. Saotome is injured; and it appears you have suffered unfortunately  
as well," said the man pleasantly.  
  
"I'm afraid 'Mr. Hibiki' has a bit of jet lag right now..." said Ranma  
as she calmed down considerably.  
  
"Perfectly understandable, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you at the  
moment; I know your busy with just arriving and all. Just wanted to  
make sure I was on the card you see. Your two friends are making quite  
a splash in our little circuit," said Duddly as he sipped at his tea  
delicately.  
  
"Really?" said Ranma in genuine surprise.  
  
"Oh yes, word has it the two of them may be eligible for a ticket to  
the grand fight with Mr. Bison himself this year in Thailand. Mr. Ryu  
is sure to be there; but it is still several weeks away," said Duddly  
calmly as ever.  
  
Ranma felt a small surge of pride form in the pit of her chest. If she  
came home with that under her belt then her father would definitely  
have some serious bragging rights; Not that she cared much about that;  
Just making it to the grand fight was enough. She turned her attention  
towards the man and smiled warmly. "Do you know where Ryu is?"  
  
"Of course, tell your friends they'll find out after the match, win or  
lose. I do hope your friend is up to it, say around nine o' clock  
tomorrow night? At the boxing arena near the airport's south side?"  
said Dudly with a small twinkle in his eye.  
  
"How much?" asked Ranma calmly. She knew that getting a lead so  
quickly was almost too good to be true. Regardless of what the man  
said, Ranma would jump on the opportunity like a starving rat on the  
last piece of cheese on the planet.  
  
"You bring seven thousand pounds and the purse is quadrupled if you  
win; your hotel accommodations are on me of course. The Queen  
Elisabeth Hotel, suite 233," said Duddly calmly as he finished off his  
tea and passed Ranma a hotel key.  
  
Ranma smiled again. "You got a deal," she said curtly.  
  
"Those two have quite a business manager I must say. I am charmed and  
hope to see you again. It was a pleasure doing business with you," he  
took her hand and kissed it gently and dryly as he walked out of the  
pub. It took all of Ranma's control just to keep from decking him.  
  
"Wake up stupid, we have a fight." growled Ranma as she kicked Ryoga  
awake. The lost boy sluggishly shook his head and scowled as he rose  
from his chair.  
  
"Already? We haven't even been here a day yet," he muttered.  
  
"Whatever let's go," muttered Ranma as she hobbled towards the door.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
A few moments later the pair were in a less than desirable section of  
London. The hotel they were to stay in was a good walk from the  
airport and the fact that Ranma was struggling with crutches didn't  
help matters any.  
  
"Ranma we know we're gonna get attacked right?" said Ryoga lazily as  
he followed.  
  
"Of course, I've never been to a place like this yet that I didn't get  
attacked," said the girl lazily as they wandered through murky and  
dirty streets that seemed devoid of human life.  
  
A few feet later Ranma stumbled across a nest of punks. They were  
typical Euro trash. Punked out as much as possible with leather and  
various hair colors with lots of piercings and odd jewelry. Ranma  
sighed and watched lazily as they surrounded her and ignored Ryoga.  
  
"Hey luv ya know it ain't safe out on the streets alone," said the  
lead punk as he placed a restraining hand on her shoulder. Ranma swat  
it off and glared at him, but he didn't take the hint.  
  
"Maybe we should protect you, for a price," said one of the others.  
  
"I'm not alone," said Ranma as she jerked her thumb back at Ryoga  
calmly.  
  
"Heh, looks like you are to me, that shrimp doesn't count," said the  
lead man again.  
  
"Oy, Ryoga-san, Bakusai Tenketsu," said Ranma to her companion  
halfheartedly.  
Ryoga nodded and touched a stone staircase next to him causing it to  
explode violently. Ranma sneered at the boys and walked on as they  
stared at Ryoga nervously.  
  
The lead man was still surprisingly bold however. "Boss don't take  
kindly to show off tourist," snorted the boy as he tried to shove  
Ranma back into the circle of boys. He found himself suspended in the  
air by his neck as Ranma held him against the wall using one of her  
crutches.  
  
"Back off brit boy. I don't have time to waste with you," she growled  
and let him fall to the ground just before he passed out.  
  
"OY! What's all this noise 'ere?" said a rumbling voice from the  
apartment in front of them. Ranma paled as a huge black cyber punk  
that put the boys around her to shame emerged and glared at them.  
  
"B-boss...I uh..." stammered one of the boy's as he shook violently  
and almost wet himself.  
  
"I needs me beauty sleep see? Keep it down, and let those damn tourist  
go! Da big man don't care about no stupid muggins! Scat the lot o'  
ya!" growled the man as he ran a comb through his hair and snorted.  
  
The punks made themselves scarce quickly and vanished into the  
alleyways.  
  
"Thanks," muttered Ranma halfheartedly as she glared at the newcomer  
uneasily.  
  
"Heh, don't worry about it missy. Just make sure that Mr. Hibiki makes  
it to that fight all freshened up 'ere," said the man as he walked  
back into the apartment lazily.  
  
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief and turned to see Ryoga leaning  
against a trashcan passed out again. She also felt a bit nervous that  
the man had known about a fight that was only planned a half-hour ago.  
  
  
"Dammit Ryoga! What the hell is with you? You can walk around Japan  
non-stop for months and you can't stay awake for five minutes in  
London?!!"  
  
The rest of the trip was uneventful.  
  
+++++++++++++++  
  
That night Ryoga slept peacefully in his bed. Ranma smiled slightly as  
she finished up another letter home. Her thoughts wandered from place  
to place and she realized that she hadn't been male all day. If you've  
ever been to London you'll understand why not, but still it was  
unusual for her to have just been so oblivious about it. Needless to  
say she did not feel like getting up at the moment just to change;  
besides, her bandages needed to stay dry and they didn't have a proper  
bath anyway.  
  
Her arm was much better and would be healed in a week or so; She  
looked at her cast and frowned as she made a fist. A small ball of chi  
formed and she sighed as he watched it burn in the air in front of  
her. For the first time in her life it was not a chore to keep it  
there. Fed by the life around her she felt as if she could keep it  
there almost indefinitely. Still, the Sho ryu ken eluded her. Despite  
all her power and skill, she could not perfect such a simple  
technique.  
  
"Maybe that's just it? Deceptively simple looking I suppose. Maybe I'm  
trying too hard to find a simple way to do something that isn't  
simple?" mused Ranma with a small grin appearing on her face. She  
sighed and watched as the glow died down in her hand and left her in  
the darkness again. "I will find it," she swore silently.  
  
"I shall await that moment," said a dark voice in the back of her  
mind. Ranma snapped alert and glanced around the room as a ghost of a  
presence faded away. It's power was almost overwhelming and she could  
feel the cold chill of evil still in the air.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
In the still of the London air M. Bison stood on the balcony of his  
room a few floors above Ranma and Ryoga's suite in the pent house. He  
gazed off into the street and smiled to himself. "I think I'll take in  
a show tomorrow, perhaps a boxing match."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Dear Akane,  
  
It's been a few days since I've written home. I hope your all doing  
well. Every day it feels like we're getting closer to Ryu, I know that  
we'll catch up soon. I just hope he can help us with the technique...  
It's becoming more and more obvious that it's some sort of power you  
have to find in yourself. I've learned a lot, whether I find him or  
not I'm still glad I made the trip. I know I won't fail, I'll make you  
all proud of me. I swear it.  
  
Now for the other half of my letter. Ryoga is doing well. He's as good  
a traveling companion as he's always been. I'm honestly glad I brought  
him in a way though. After such a hectic life I don't think I could  
take a trip like this alone. I've never been really alone before. I  
suppose I should tell you that I've been injured a little. It's  
nothing serious I promise, looks much worse than it really is. The  
photo on the front of the card is us on the shores of the Thames  
river, it's really wet in England. It's almost impossible to stay dry  
[that's why I'm a girl in the photo.] Kick Kuno for me once OK? I miss  
that.  
  
Ja!  
  
Ranma  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Dearest Akari,  
  
I hope this letter finds you well. Traveling with Ranma is pure hell.  
He spends all his time as a girl flirting with the men here! Just  
yesterday she conned some guy out of his lunch just by looking at him;  
and while were in Spain he got his butt kicked and now he won't admit  
to it! It's enough to make a real man sick! After that he tried to  
steal my umbrella to stay dry, he said he was trying to keep me dry  
because of some stupid bus; that liar has no shame. I miss Japan and  
hope to return there soon, but only after I've defeated Ranma once and  
for all!  
  
Until then,  
  
Ryoga.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Akane frowned as she looked at the slightly bandaged Ranma on the  
front of the post card. Ryoga had his elbow planted in her head and he  
had a smile on his face. Ranma was glaring at him angrily and several  
men were watching the whole scene all around them; most of them  
looking at Ranma.  
  
"That dope, he looks like he almost got himself killed!" growled the  
angry fiancee.  
  
Her friend Akari Unryuu sat cheerfully next to her and sighed  
contentedly. She hugged her own card to her chest and looked at Akane.  
"It's not so bad Akane, she probably just got stabbed through the foot  
or something. He'll be fine."  
  
"If he gets himself killed over some stupid martial arts technique  
I'll kill him!" growled Akane as her battle aura flared.  
  
"That's just how men are Akane, especially men like ours. They'll be  
fine. Just have a little faith!" said Akari with a romantic gaze in  
her eyes.  
  
"I...suppose you're right," said Akane reluctantly as she leaned back  
and watched the sky for a moment.  
  
"Really?" said Akari in genuine surprise.  
  
"That dope is too stupid to die so well," she finally finished.  
  
Akari breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed all was right with the  
world again.  
  
  



	4. part 10-final

++++++++++++++  
Ranma vs. The World  
  
Part 13  
  
A Gentlemen's game  
  
Part 2: A contest of strength.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Where are we?" said Ryoga as he sat down at a small table in the  
corner of the bar. Ranma hobbled over and moved to the seat beside  
him. It was a rough looking place, various large looking men wandered  
about the floor, many were quite drunk.  
  
"This is the place we're supposed to meet this guy," replied Ranma  
with a small shrug. She glanced around and frowned, the man wasn't  
anywhere to be seen.  
  
"Eh love," said one of the patrons as he approached the pair in a  
drunken swagger. He was a bulky looking sailor and the odor from his  
body was apparent from a considerable distance away.  
  
Ranma continued her conversation, ignoring the man calmly. "We're  
a bit early, he'll be here. After putting us up the way he did, I  
doubt if he's going to back out now."  
  
Ryoga nodded, he glanced at the drunken man and frowned.  
  
Ranma merely lifted up one of her crutches and poked the man in  
the neck without even glancing at him. The man fell to the floor and  
she smirked at the surprised look on her companion's face. "Can't say  
that old ghoul never taught me anything."  
  
"Right," muttered Ryoga calmly.  
  
"Well, I wasn't expecting to find you here. Hardly a place for  
such a refined lady," said a familiar voice. Dudley approached the  
table, stepping over the fallen drunkard casually. "It's nice to see  
that you can take care of yourself, even in such an awful state."  
  
Ryoga snorted crudely. "Refined...heh."  
  
Ranma promptly whacked him over his head with her crutch in  
irritation, giving Dudley a good whack for good measure.  
  
"Quite a spirited woman you have there," commented the boxer  
calmly.  
  
Ryoga burst into laughter, and Ranma growled at the both of them.  
"Look, can we get this over with?"  
  
"Quite, you may want to stay here miss, the clientele is a bit  
more brutish where we're going," said the boxer, earning himself  
another knock on the head.  
  
"Who are you callin a lady?" snarled Ranma.  
  
Ryoga almost fell out of his chair he was laughing so hard.  
  
"Stupid jerk!" snapped Ranma as she hobbled after the confused  
looking boxer.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"So, this is it?" said Ryoga as he cracked his knuckles.  
  
They were in a back room of the bar, a small boxing ring was set  
up in the center of a room that should have been used for storage.  
Various barrels of ale lined the walls, and men sat around on  
makeshift benches around the ring, small slips of paper in their hands  
indicating their bets.  
  
Ranma looked at her own ticket and smirked as she took a seat at  
the ringside in Ryoga's corner. "We've got a lot riding on this one P-  
chan, don't screw it up."  
  
"Shut up!" snapped Ryoga harshly as he hung off the ropes and  
grabbed for her.  
  
"Calm down, he's waiting for you," said the pigtailed girl as she  
pointed at the opposite corner of the ring.  
  
Dudley was standing with his boxing gloves on, they were light  
blue in color. His sleeves were rolled up and he had a smug looking  
grin on his face. "I do hope you make this more interesting than the  
usual fodder around here, sir."  
  
"Heh, more interesting than you've seen," commented Ryoga as he  
cracked his knuckles. A small greasy looking man handed him a pair of  
boxing gloves and he tossed them over his shoulder. "Do I look like a  
boxer to you?"  
  
The man scurried away quickly and ducked under the ropes.  
  
"Shall we begin?" asked the black man as he put his fists up.  
  
Ryoga did the same and grinned. "Come on."  
  
Someone outside the ring sounded a makeshift bell, and the two men  
closed in on one another.  
  
Dudley jabbed at Ryoga, landing a few punches on the boy's  
forearms. The lost boy had quickly taken a defensive stand in the  
battle and watched the boxer carefully.  
  
"Are you going to quit fooling around?" snapped Ryoga as he moved  
forward slightly, forcing Dudley to step back slightly. "I haven't  
felt one of those cheap shots yet."  
  
"Testing the waters tyke," said the man as he got a dangerous  
glint in his eyes. Without warning he rushed forward and slammed an  
uppercut under Ryoga's jaw. The lost boy sailed into the air and came  
down hard on the mat.  
  
"No! You idiot!" snapped Ranma as she stood up and grabbed the  
edge of the ring in frustration.  
  
"Well, that was certainly less entertaining than I'd hoped,"  
snorted the boxer casually as he turned away.  
  
"Heh. This isn't a boxing match, just cause I'm down, doesn't mean  
I'm out yet," said Ryoga as he jumped to his feet in a single fluid  
motion. "I barely felt that punch."  
  
Dudley turned around and narrowed his eyes as he saw the boy was  
unharmed by the blow. "Interesting indeed."  
  
"You'll have to be much stronger than that if you want to beat  
me," said Ryoga as he put up his fists again.  
  
"Come on then," said Dudley as he waved the boy forward with his  
hand.  
  
Ryoga rushed forward and spun into a kick that was blocked by the  
man's forearm. Dudley grunted in effort and jumped back away from the  
follow up punch that Ryoga threw. "You're stronger than you look lad."  
  
"Enough talking! Fight!" snarled Ryoga as he pressed his advantage  
and moved in. Dudley moved back, dodging around the boy's blows.  
  
Ryoga pummeled the man mercilessly, punching and kicking at the  
man at a faster and faster rate. "Hold still damn you!" screamed the  
boy as he punched with all his strength, overextending slightly as a  
result.  
  
"Jet Uppercut!" cried Dudley as he sailed into the air and caught  
his opponent across the jaw. Ryoga was sent sprawling across the  
canvas again.  
  
"Idiot! You're still losing!" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"Shut up!" snarled Ryoga as he jumped up to his feet again. Dudley  
took advantage of the distraction and rushed forward slamming several  
super fast blows into Ryoga's stomach.  
  
"Machinegun blow!"  
  
Ryoga lurched forward, a small spray of blood coming out of his  
mouth as he staggered back under the assault.  
  
"You should pay attention," chided the man calmly as he stepped  
back.  
  
"You've been hiding your real strength," commented Ryoga with a  
small chuckle as he regained his footing and wiped his chin. "Well, I  
hate to say this, but so have I."  
  
Dudley frowned at this and readied his fists again, moving his  
feet back and fourth as he moved around in one place excitedly.  
  
Ryoga rushed forward again, kicking at the man again. Dudley spun  
around the kick and attempted to backhand the boy in the face. Ryoga  
was ready for the attack though and grabbed the man's wrist, stopping  
him cold.  
  
"What?" said Dudley in shock. He grit his teeth in pain as the boy  
squeezed his wrist tightly.  
  
"I'll show you what real strength his," said the lost boy coldly.  
He lifted the man over his head and slammed him to the ground behind  
him. Dudley was sprawled out painfully and gasped in pain as he lost  
his breath for a moment. The boxer was on his feet in an instant  
though and glared at the boy.  
  
"That wasn't very nice," commented the man calmly as he regained  
his senses for a moment.  
  
"Come on! I know you've got more!" snapped Ryoga as he crouched  
down and prepared to spring forward.  
  
"I didn't think I'd have to go all out on you chap, quite  
impressive," said the boxer as he got a strange grin on his face.  
  
"If you had used all your strength from the beginning, you might  
have had a chance at winning!" said Ryoga as he sprang forward.  
  
"No! You idiot!" cried Ranma as she covered her eyes.  
  
"You haven't won yet!" replied Dudley as he met the charge with  
his own attack. "Corkscrew blow!" Chi energy swirled around his arm as  
he dashed forward and struck forward at Ryoga. The boy landed just in  
front of the blow, and smirked as he ducked and twisted at the same  
time, causing the strike to miss.  
  
"Ryoga!" gasped Ranma in shock as she recognized a familiar energy  
in the air. Apparently he had felt the boxer charging his energy, and  
had feigned ignorance in order to draw him in.  
  
"You're mine! Ryu ken!" cried Ryoga as he thrust his arm upward.  
The lost boy felt the power surge through his body, a tight wind  
seemed to rip through the inside of his arm as he slammed his fist  
into his opponent's jaw.  
  
Dudley was thrown into the air and slammed down on his back hard.  
  
"Heh, looks like I win," said Ryoga casually as he stared down at  
the fallen man for a moment.  
  
"As you said boy, this isn't a boxing match, down doesn't mean  
out," said the man as he slowly rose to his feet. He was rubbing his  
jaw with his glove and stared his opponent down.  
  
"No way!" said Ranma in shock.  
  
"Heh, you're right," said Ryoga as he smirked and put up his fists  
again.  
  
"You've definitely made this fight interesting," said the boxer.  
"I applaud your efforts."  
  
"You're not bad yourself," said Ryoga with a small nod.  
  
"Well, the hour grows late, I'm afraid I must conclude this  
battle," said Dudley with a sad looking nod as he readied himself  
again.  
  
Ryoga frowned and closed his stance defensively. "I need something  
more to take him down. He's charging for something big," thought the  
boy to himself. "Damn."  
  
Dudley seemed to duck and rush forward at the same time. "Rolling  
Thunder!" His fists blurred as he jabbed at Ryoga's body relentlessly.  
  
  
The lost boy put up his leg and blocked most of the attack with  
his arms and shins. He was still thrown back by the strikes, and  
staggered back. Dudley wasn't finished yet and continued to press his  
advantage.  
  
"I won't lose! Hikidasu Jimen Hado!" Ryoga fell to his knees from  
the final punch of Dudley's attack. His hand touched the ground, and a  
blue pillar of light erupted from in front of him, completely  
consuming the boxer.  
  
When the light faded, Ryoga was standing in the middle of the  
ring, he looked rather worn and beaten. Dudley was out cold at his  
feet.  
  
"Whoa!" commented Ranma in shock.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stared at the boy for a moment. "That was new."  
  
Ryoga looked almost as bad as she did now. His entire torso was  
covered in bandages as well as both of his forearms. They sat in a  
small first aid room that had once been a broom closet.  
  
"Yeah, what of it? You aren't the only one who can make things up  
you know," said the lost boy as he pulled his shirt on again.  
  
"I guess," muttered Ranma with a small frown. "Where's that other  
guy?"  
  
"I have taken the liberty of removing him," said a stuffy looking  
old man who walked into the room and snorted at them. He was a thin  
man with a mustache, all his hair was gray and he nodded at them. "He  
expresses his thanks for the fight. This is your purse, and a letter  
the master has asked me to deliver to you."  
  
Ranma grinned as she took the bag of money and the note. "Great!  
Thanks a lot."  
  
"Quite," said the old man stuffily as he turned away.  
  
"Note?" said Ryoga dumbly.  
  
"Dear sirs,  
  
I understand that you seek the man known as Ryu. In thanks for the  
most glorious battle, I shall give you a little information. It is a  
little known fact that he frequents America around this time of year.  
A place called Seattle in the state of Washington. An old training  
partner of his, by the name of Ken Masters, is known to live in that  
area.  
  
I wish you luck on your journey my friends."  
  
"That guy was weird," said Ranma as she finished reading the  
letter.  
  
"He was a nice guy though," said Ryoga with a small frown.  
  
"So, I guess we're going to America," said Ranma with a shrug as  
she tucked the note into her shirt.  
  
"Washington, isn't that the capitol of America or something?" said  
Ryoga with a slightly confused frown.  
  
"How the heck should I know?" said Ranma irritably.  
  
"Hey! You're the one who goes to school!" snapped Ryoga bitterly.  
  
"It ain't like you couldn't ya know," said Ranma.  
  
"I could not and you know it!" snapped Ryoga angrily.  
  
"Yeah, yeah," grumbled Ranma.  
  
"Are you sure we're going to the right Washington?" said Ryoga as  
he pushed his anger aside for a moment.  
  
"We asked the lady at the counter about it, remember?" said Ranma  
with a small sigh. It was obviously a conversation that they had been  
having for some time.  
  
"She didn't have to laugh you know," muttered Ryoga bitterly as he  
thought back too the incident.  
  
"Jeez, don't worry about it," grumbled Ranma. It was obvious that  
he was bothered by it as well. "I should be back to normal in a few  
days, I'll take the next fight."  
  
"The hell you will!" snapped Ryoga angrily.  
  
"Shut up, porgy! You had your fun here!" retorted Ranma with a rough  
snort.  
  
"Care to repeat that?" snapped Ryoga angrily as he pulled his  
companion up by his collar.  
  
"Now boarding rows eleven through twenty," said a flight attendant  
from the terminal door.  
  
"Worry about that later, we have to board now," said Ranma as he  
brushed the boy's hands off and stood up.  
  
"You aren't squirming your way out of this one, Saotome!" snarled  
Ryoga.  
  
"Cut it out you jerk! Do you want to get arrested?" said Ranma as  
he moved a little faster towards the entrance to the plane.  
  
"Come back here and take your beating!" snapped Ryoga as he  
followed after him.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Are you sure he didn't leave you?" said Sayuri as she looked at  
the very irritated Akane.  
  
"Yes!" snapped the girl in retort. Her aura was starting to burn  
around her.  
  
"Well, that's what everyone is saying! Ranma ran off to China with  
Shampoo, or took off with that Kuonji girl!" agreed Yuka with a  
worried looking frown.  
  
"What?" said Ukyo as she appeared from around the corner. "Ranma  
ran off to be with me? And he didn't take me with him?" The girl  
looked completely serious.  
  
"He didn't run away with anyone!" snapped Akane. "He's running  
around with Ryoga, getting himself arrested!" She slapped her hands  
over her mouth.  
  
"So it's true! Ranma joined the Yakuza, and broke off all ties  
with his fiancees!" cried Yuka in shock.  
  
"No! This has to be your fault!" snapped Ukyo as she glared at  
Akane. "I'm going to find him!"  
  
"Good luck," muttered Akane as she gave the conversation up as a  
lost cause finally. She poked at her lunch irritably with her  
chopsticks and simply pouted.  
  
"You know something?" said Ukyo as she narrowed her eyes. "There's  
no way he ran off with that hussy Shampoo, I saw her here earlier  
today. Where is my Ranchan?"  
  
"You're just now noticing he's gone?" said Sayuri dumbly.  
  
"Yeah, Ranma's been gone for more than a month," agreed Yuka as  
she stared up at the chef.  
  
"What?" said Ukyo as she staggered back under their gaze. "He's  
been gone a month?"  
  
"Almost two actually," commented Akane lazily. Strangely she was  
starting to feel better as Ukyo floundered in shock.  
  
"What did you do to my Ranchan?" screamed the girl in shock as she  
turned towards Akane again.  
  
"He's off looking for some martial arts guy, Ryu, or something.  
He's been gone for almost two months," said the girl with a strangely  
satisfied smile forming on her face.  
  
"And nobody told me?" snapped Ukyo.  
  
"We didn't tell you when we went to China that time," said Akane  
with a small shrug. "Why would this be any different?"  
  
"He's my fiancee!" snapped the girl bitterly.  
  
"You didn't think it was weird that he hadn't shown up in all this  
time? You go to school with him," said Yuka in a sort of fascinated  
wonder.  
  
"Well, the restaurant's been busy..." muttered Ukyo with a slight  
blush forming on her face as she turned away from the group in shame.  
"Where is he? I know you drove him away! This is your fault!" said  
Ukyo as she turned her attention towards Akane once again.  
  
"England, last I heard anyway," said Akane with another shrug.  
  
"What's he doing in England?" said the hysterical Ukyo as she  
grabbed Akane by her shoulders.  
  
"Looking for some guy, I told you already. He's got this really  
strong technique, Ranma wants to learn it or something," was the  
unusually calm reply.  
  
"That jackass left without telling me?" said Ukyo as she found a  
new target for her anger.  
  
"I guess so," said Akane as she started to realize how happy she  
looked, her face fell and she feigned indifference.  
  
"I'll kill him!" cried Ukyo as she rushed away.  
  
Akane blushed, if Ukyo didn't know about this, then that meant  
that Ranma wasn't writing her. She felt a surge of something well up  
inside her chest for a moment.  
  
Shampoo jumped up over the wall of the schoolyard with a delivery  
box in her grasp. She glanced around for a moment and frowned. "Ranma  
not back from training yet? Bad!" The Chinese girl bounced away with a  
frustrated look on her face.  
  
"Um, Akane?" said Yuka as she waved her hand in front of her  
friend's face for a moment.  
  
"You broke your..." said Sayuri.  
  
Akane was simply glaring forward angrily, a pair of broken  
chopsticks in her grip. "That jerk!" she cried angrily. "When he gets  
back, I'll kill him!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"What's wrong now?" said Ryoga with a frown as he glanced over his  
shoulder.  
  
Ranma had frozen in the terminal at the airport and shivered  
slightly. "I dunno, just a chill I guess."  
  
"Let's go, I want to find a hotel," snorted Ryoga indifferently as  
he continued to walk through the crowd.  
  
"Wait up! I don't want to spend all day looking for you!" cried  
Ranma as he rushed after his companion.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The World  
  
Part 14  
  
Land of opportunity  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Hey Akane!  
  
Been a while since I've written. We've been busy over the past few  
days. Ryoga's still with me surprisingly enough. It's been a long  
trip, and we hope we find what we're looking for. I don't know how  
much longer I can take Ryoga's pig headedness. We're both fine of  
course, and currently in a city called Seattle, it's in Washington.  
Did ya know there's two Washingtons over here? I thought it was kinda  
weird.  
Anyway, we're inside this weird building on the picture on the  
front. It's a restaurant that turns at the very top, so you can see  
the whole city while you eat. I thought it was pretty cool, Ryoga  
isn't much of a sightseer, seems he's been here before. Go figure.  
Back to why we're here. There's a guy here named Ken, it seems  
he's this Ryu's old training partner. We may be able to learn  
something from him, but I'd still like to find Ryu though. We're both  
having a blast, no matter how much Ryoga complains.  
  
Hope to see you soon,  
  
Ranma  
  
+++++++++++++++++++++++  
  
Dearest Akari,  
  
I really hate Ranma. I really mean it, he's a real jerk, and he  
snores when he sleeps. It wouldn't be so bad, if it wasn't twice as  
loud in his girl form. That ass spends almost all of his time like  
that, flirting with men around the city. He says it's because it's  
raining all the time here, but I know better! That jerk could buy an  
umbrella like me if he really wanted too.  
Despite that moron holding me back, the training is going really  
well. Ranma and I are both close to finding this technique, even  
though I'm closer. He still won't admit that. Anyway, we've both come  
up with new techniques, but the one we're after still eludes us. I  
hope I find it soon, then I can crush Ranma and be done with it.  
I hope this letter finds you well, and I wish I could go back to  
Japan right now, but I must defeat Ranma first.  
  
Until then,  
  
Ryoga Hibiki.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Those idiots," snorted Akane as she flipped the postcard over and  
looked at the photo on the front for a moment. Ranma and Ryoga were  
both sitting at a table, casually posing. The city sprawled out behind  
them into the distance. It looked wet outside, and there was a cloud  
of smoke and fog seeming to shroud the view.  
  
"I've always wanted to visit America though," said Akari  
cheerfully. "It sure was nice of Ryoga to send me these earrings. She  
put her hand behind her ear, showing them to Akane proudly, they were  
two small round diamonds. "Did Ranma send you anything?"  
  
"Just a stupid necklace," said Akane as she tried her best to look  
grumpy. She pulled it out of her shirt and showed it to Akari for a  
moment.  
  
"Wow!" said the girl as her eyes went wide. It was a small  
dolphin, with gemstones encrusted along the body. "That must have been  
expensive."  
  
"He probably bought it at some junk store," commented Akane lazily  
as she started to put it back in her shirt. A hand snaked over her  
shoulder and grabbed her wrist, stopping her cold. "Huh?"  
  
Nabiki had appeared out of nowhere, she peered at the necklace  
carefully for a moment and gasped. "Where did you get this Akane?"  
  
"Huh? Ranma sent it to me from America," said the girl dumbly as  
she clutched her chest and attempted to catch her breath. Akari had a  
similar expression on her face; the girl had surprised the both.  
  
"Ranma can't afford this!" snapped Nabiki. "These are diamonds!  
That's a ruby, these here are sapphires!" She pulled the necklace up  
for closer inspection, weighing the gold in her palm. "This is at  
least fourteen karats!"  
  
"You mean it's real?" said Akane dumbly.  
  
Nabiki paused and looked at her sister for a moment. "Um, no. I  
was just joking. I'll take it off your hands for three thousand yen  
though."  
  
"What? No way!" snapped Akane as she pulled the necklace from her  
sister's grasp and tucked it in her shirt.  
  
Nabiki cursed under her breath and faded away again, muttering to  
herself as she did so.  
  
"How does she do that?" said Akari as she watched the scene in  
shock.  
  
"You got me," muttered Akane as she tried her best to hide her  
smile.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma and Ryoga walked through the rain soaked streets glancing at  
a slip of paper in Ranma's hand from time to time. "That guy says he  
comes here a lot," said Ranma as she looked up at a blinking neon sign  
for a moment.  
  
Ryoga was holding his umbrella over his head and frowning as he stared  
at the building. "He'd better be here, as much as we paid for that  
information."  
  
Both of them paused and looked up as they almost ran into a  
massive looking man. He was standing directly in front of them and  
looking at a slip of paper. " Says he comes here a lot," said the man  
in passable Japanese. It was obvious that he wasn't though. A rather  
silly looking samurai helmet covered his face, and a long black poncho  
covered his entire body.  
  
"Who the?" said Ranma dumbly as she looked at the man for a  
moment.  
  
"Huh?" muttered the man as he stared down at the pair for a moment. He  
pointed his finger at them and jumped up and down for a moment. "You!  
You two are Japanese aren't you?"  
  
"Um, yeah," said Ryoga as he blinked and looked at Ranma for a moment.  
  
"I can tell just by looking, most people would think you were  
Chinese, or Thai or something!" said the man proudly as he struck a  
ridiculous looking pose.  
  
"Well, the fact that we're speaking Japanese probably helped too,"  
deadpanned Ranma.  
  
"Yes, yes," said the man happily. "I am honored to meet you both,"  
he bowed to them, almost touching his toes with his helmet as he did  
so.  
  
"Yeah, we're gonna go in here now," said Ranma as she pulled on  
Ryoga's arm and led him towards the door.  
  
"So, you are looking for Ken Masters as well," said the man with a  
slight nod.  
  
"Huh?" said Ryoga as he stopped Ranma from moving any further.  
"You too?"  
  
"I am afraid I have come here to fight him, if your wish is the  
same, I cannot allow you to find him first," said the man as he nodded  
too himself. "I am Sodom, and I cannot rest until I have defeated the  
ninja known as Guy. I must find strong opponents to better myself  
before I can face him again."  
  
"Guy? Hey! I remember him," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Then you know of my power, I am already stronger than him, but I  
must be certain," said Sodom sagely. He crossed his arms in front of  
himself, revealing a rather ridiculous cross between a samurai uniform  
and a football uniform under his poncho.  
  
"We know this man called Guy?" said Ryoga as he scratched his head  
for a moment.  
  
"Yeah, I beat him back in Japan, remember? In the airport?" said  
Ranma proudly.  
  
"Oh yeah, that fight you had to cheat to win. Hitting him from  
behind that way, shameful really," said Ryoga with a small nod.  
  
"I did not cheat!" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"It matters not," said Sodom as he pulled two Jitte from behind  
his back and took up a combat stance.  
  
"Come on then," snorted Ranma.  
  
"I am honored to do battle with you," said Sodom as he bowed  
again.  
  
"Will you quit that?" said Ranma irritably as she backed away from  
him.  
  
"We shall meet in honorable combat!" cried Sodom as he charged  
forward.  
  
Ranma jumped over his head and landed behind him. "You stupid  
jerk!"  
  
Sodom turned and stared at her for a moment. "I see that you are  
as nimble as my hated nemesis."  
  
Ranma slammed her fist into his face. The man staggered back under  
the force of the blow. Ranma yelped in pain, clutching her hand.  
  
"Idiot," muttered Ryoga as he leaned against the wall and watched.  
  
Sodom glared down at Ranma for a moment and chuckled. "I am  
protected by my armor, you cannot harm me."  
  
The redhead responded by spinning into a kick that caught the side  
of his helmet and turned him headfirst into the wall of the bar. The  
wall cracked under the force, and Sodom staggered for a moment. "I  
shall not fall for such an attack again."  
  
"Hadoken!" said Ranma as she unleashed a fireball into his chest  
and sent him sprawling across the pavement. She looked down at him for  
a moment and frowned. "Jerk."  
  
Ryoga let out a rough snort and followed her as she walked into  
the bar.  
  
Both teens paused and simply stared at the familiar looking man  
sitting at one of the stools with a beer in his hand. The blonde  
flattop and camouflage pants were enough to single him out of the  
small crowd of airmen.  
  
"You!" said Ryoga as he slowly backed into a combat stance.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Guile was not having the best day, or even the best month. Things  
had not gotten any better since his return from China. Yet Bison still  
eluded him. He looked down at the dog tags that rested in his palm as  
he drank and frowned. "Damn you, I'll get you yet you bastard." He  
turned his head and looked at the stool beside him for a moment. He  
could almost see Charlie sitting there, drinking another of those damn  
wine coolers and pushing his glasses up onto his face.  
  
That was when the door opened, and two teenage Japanese walked  
into the bar. Both of them were very familiar, the boy in particular.  
  
"You," said the boy angrily. He backed away slowly, moving into a  
ready stance. The girl with him eyed him angrily as well, but was much  
more relaxed.  
  
He turned and smiled at them for a moment. "Hello again," he said  
in Japanese.  
  
"Ryoga," warned the girl as she moved between them. She was  
watching the rest of the crowd; everyone had turned to face them due  
to the heat in the boy's voice.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm not going to attack you," said the man calmly as  
he turned back to his beer. "I suppose I should apologize for what  
happened in China. You see, you aren't the only ones looking for Ryu."  
  
"You too?" said Ranma cautiously. She noticed everyone else had  
turned back to what they were doing.  
  
"In a way, but not for the same reasons. We thought you were  
working for the others. We were about to release you when you escaped.  
Quite a nice maneuver, I might add."  
  
"What do you want with Ryu?" said Ryoga as he calmed down visibly  
all of a sudden.  
  
"We don't want him, we want the others who are after him,  
Shadowloo," said Guile angrily.  
  
"I've heard about them," said Ranma as she took up a seat next to  
the man.  
  
"Really? What about them?" said the American as he eyed them both  
cautiously.  
  
"That they're some sort of crime syndicate. I'd never heard of  
them before you arrested me," said Ranma with a slight tensing in her  
voice.  
  
Guile nodded and seemed to lose interest suddenly. "What brings  
you here?"  
  
"We're still looking for Ryu," said Ryoga calmly.  
  
"Still want him to be your master do you?" said the man with a  
small chuckle.  
  
"I don't want to be his student," said Ranma calmly. "We only want  
one thing from him."  
  
"What's that?" said Guile in slight amusement.  
  
"Shoryuken," said Ranma calmly. "I want to know how he does it."  
  
"If that's all you want, there's a man here you can ask," said  
Guile as he looked at the redhead for a moment.  
  
"Ken Masters?" said Ranma with a slight smirk on her face.  
  
"That's right, you were looking for him here?" asked Guile.  
  
Both teens nodded in response.  
  
"I'll tell you what, since I owe you for what happened in China,  
I'll help you out." The man took a napkin and a pen from behind the  
counter and began writing. He handed the paper to Ranma. "This is  
Ken's address, go talk with him. Maybe he'll help you out."  
  
Ranma blinked in surprise and took the paper.  
  
"If it was just you, I'd have thrown you out the moment you walked  
in," said the man as he turned to look at Ryoga. "A soldier never  
leaves a man behind, much less a woman."  
  
Ryoga returned the glare and snorted in disgust. "Ranma can take  
care of himself. I'm not here to watch him, I'm here to make sure I  
can defeat him once and for all."  
  
The pair stood up and walked towards the door together. The  
bartender was starting too look slightly nervous with the pair of  
teens in his bar, but wasn't about to ask them to leave if they were  
with Guile.  
  
The man returned to his drink again, brooding silently. "Ranma  
must be that other kid's name." He glanced at the door again and  
frowned. "I have a feeling I'm going to see those two again."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
It was late morning, and Ranma and Ryoga stood in the gates of a  
rather lavish looking estate.  
  
"This is it?" said Ryoga dumbly.  
  
"Wow," muttered Ranma under his breath.  
  
The pair looked on as the gates opened slowly.  
  
"Did you do something?" said Ranma as he turned to look at his  
companion for a moment.  
  
Both of them were forced to jump out of the way a split second  
later as a red convertible blasted from the gates at full speed. An  
attractive looking blonde woman was at the wheel with a rather angry  
scowl on her face. Hanging from the side of the car was a young blonde  
man who was clawing at the passenger seat as he tried to climb inside.  
The woman made a sharp turn and he was thrown off, and sent rolling  
across the pavement.  
  
"Damn it!" cried the man as he jumped to his feet and jogged out  
to the middle of the street. "Man, she's really pissed this time."  
  
"Um, excuse us," said Ranma as he looked at the scene with  
uncertainty.  
  
The man paused and turned to look at them. "Huh?"  
  
++++++++++  
  
"So, you're Ken?" said Ranma as he followed the man through the  
grounds of the mansion.  
  
"Yeah," said the man with a slight chuckle. He noticed the pair  
was looking down the road, in the direction his girlfriend had taken  
off in. "Don't worry about that. She does this sort of thing to me all  
the time."  
  
"Oh," said the pair as the forced themselves to look at the man  
again.  
  
  
"What brings you here?"  
  
"We're looking for Ryu," said Ranma.  
  
Ken paused and turned to face them. "Huh?"  
  
"We're looking for Ryu," repeated Ranma. "You used to train with  
him, right?"  
  
"Well, yeah. What do you want with him?" said the blonde man in  
confusion. "He doesn't owe you any money does he?"  
  
The two Japanese teens looked at each other for a moment and then  
back to Ken again. Neither of them had quite understood what the man  
had meant.  
  
"Never mind, you two are definitely Japanese," muttered the man  
with a small sigh. "Still, why would you two be looking for him?"  
  
"He beat me in a fight in Nerima, I want to know how he did it,"  
said Ranma with a little shame on his face.  
  
"We both practice martial arts," said the blonde with a shrug.  
  
"I want to learn the move he used," said Ranma with determination  
in his eyes. "I've almost got it, but there's something missing."  
  
"Oh, I see," muttered Ken as he rolled his eyes and motioned for  
them too follow him.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Where are we?" said Ryoga as he looked around at the building  
they had walked into in wonder. It was a huge dojo, built in the  
traditional Japanese style.  
  
"Wow, this place makes the Tendo place look...small," said Ranma  
as he stared at the dojo in awe.  
  
"What was it he did?" said Ken as he turned to face the pair.  
  
"Shoryuken," said Ryoga. "It was a..."  
  
"I know what it is," said Ken as he interrupted and nodded towards  
Ranma. "Show me what you've got so far."  
  
Ranma blinked in surprise and pointed at himself.  
  
"Yeah, come on," said Ken as he smirked at the boy.  
  
The pigtailed boy walked into the center of the dojo and took up a  
cat stance. He closed his eyes and began to breathe slowly.  
  
Ken stood back and watched carefully. His eyes narrowed as a  
familiar power began to form around the boy. "He's got it already? No,  
something's wrong," he muttered too himself.  
  
Ryoga overheard this and raised his eyebrow as he looked at the  
man for a moment. His attention quickly returned to Ranma again  
though.  
  
"Ryuken!" cried the boy as he shot his fist into the air.  
  
Ken continued to watch as Ranma looked at his fist in frustration.  
He chuckled to himself and strolled up to the boy. "I've never seen  
anything like that before. It was a Shoryuken all right, but not a  
complete one."  
  
"What's missing?" said Ranma; a desperate hope seemed to flash in  
his eyes for a moment.  
  
Ken shook his head and sighed. "I don't know."  
  
"Damn," muttered Ryoga.  
  
"Don't get me wrong, Ryu couldn't help you either. The thing about  
the Shoryuken is that you have to find it for yourself. No one can  
teach you how."  
  
"What do you mean?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
Ken smiled. "I'll tell you what my master told me. 'There is more  
to the Shoryuken than simply focusing your ki and attacking. You have  
to feel it completely, no one can explain it too you, or the training  
is lost.'"  
  
"In other words, you could tell us, but that isn't the point,"  
said Ryoga with a slight nod.  
  
"That's the basic idea," said Ken with a slight shrug. "Watch."  
  
The blonde man stepped into the center of the dojo and took up a  
solid karate stance. After only a second he jumped into the air and  
his arm burst into flames. "Shoryuken!" He landed softly and turned to  
face them. "You see? All I can do is show you the way, you have to  
find it for yourself."  
  
Ranma and Ryoga stood silently for a moment, both looking  
contemplative.  
  
Finally, Ranma spoke. "Thank you." He bowed and started towards  
the exit.  
  
Ryoga nodded in thanks as well and followed behind him.  
  
"Wait up, I'll tell you what. You two can stay here tonight and  
use the dojo. Mom will love to have you, she doesn't get to talk to  
people from Japan very often, and Ryu isn't much of a  
conversationalist when he does visit."  
  
Ranma and Ryoga looked at each other for a moment and then back at  
Ken again.  
  
"Are you sure?" said Ranma in surprise.  
  
"Sure, I can tell you two are the honest type," said Ken  
cheerfully. "Just hang around here for a while. I'll get a room for  
you."  
  
The two teens bowed deeply in thanks.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Ken was walking away, leaving the two boys alone to meditate. "So,  
those two are Ranma and Ryoga? I wonder how someone knew they would be  
here?" He pulled three letters out of his pocket and looked at them  
while he walked. With the exception of the names, they were identical.  
They were all personal invitations too a tournament in Thailand.  
  
"It's been a while since I've been too Thailand, the last time was  
definitely interesting." He put the invitations back into his pocket  
and turned too look at the dojo for a moment. "Ryu will definitely be  
there."  
  
His smile widened as he thought about it, this was something he  
was definitely not going to miss. That was the whole reason his  
girlfriend was angry, she had found out about it.  
  
++++++++++  
  
It was late evening; Ranma was still sitting across from Ryoga in  
a lotus position. Sweat was beading on his forehead as he  
concentrated, meditating on what was eluding him. Ryoga was doing the  
exact same thing; the image was almost comical, the pair looked almost  
like a mirror image of one another.  
  
Both of them were running Ken demonstrating the attack to them  
over and over inside their minds. Focusing on each motion, each  
feeling they had gotten when he performed it. No detail had escaped  
them, and they poured over it relentlessly, searching for the missing  
element.  
  
Finally, they both jumped up in unison. "I've got it!" They cried  
as one. They both paused and stared at one another. Ryoga nodded  
first, and then Ranma.  
  
Without a single word they charged one another. Both became a blur  
of motion as they fought, their fists and feet working relentlessly as  
they struck and blocked one another's strikes.  
  
Ranma pushed his foot into the lost boy's chest, flipping off of  
his chest and landing across from him.  
  
Ryoga growled and charged forward again, punching at his rival.  
  
Ranma responded by spinning under the strike and rolling away. He  
pushed himself back onto his feet and thrust out his hands. "Hadoken!"  
  
Ryoga responded by twirling around and repeating the same attack.  
"Hadoken!"  
  
The two balls of fire collided, canceling each other out. The pair  
was already in motion again, charging towards one another in another  
flurry of attacks. Finally, they paused.  
  
"Shoryuken!"  
  
Both of them cried out the name of the attack at the same time,  
rising into the air as one and slamming into one another. There was a  
sound, like cloth tearing open as they ripped through the air, the  
force of the other's attack threw both back. They landed on the ground  
roughly, neither getting up from the blow.  
  
"Ouch," muttered Ranma from his place on the ground. His eyes were  
closed painfully.  
  
"Damn you Ranma! How dare you learn the Shoryuken at the same time  
as me!" muttered Ryoga. He was face down on the ground, and the dojo  
floor muffled his voice.  
  
"Can it pig boy," muttered Ranma painfully. "We weren't wrong, we  
were doing it right. It was just too small."  
  
"So, you figured it out?" said Ken as he walked into the dojo and  
stood between them.  
  
"Yeah," muttered Ranma as he finally forced himself to sit up.  
  
"What were you doing wrong? I still haven't figured it out," said  
Ken as he squat down next to him and smiled.  
  
"We were trying to do it with just our fists," said Ryoga as he  
pushed himself up and rolled onto his back. "We didn't realize that  
the Shoryuken is something you do with your whole body."  
  
"Ah, I get it now," said Ken as he stood up. "Come on, we'll eat  
now. I've got something to talk with you about."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Thailand?" asked Ranma. His mouth was full of food and he looked  
up at the blonde man. They were all sitting around the table with a  
large, traditional, Japanese dinner set out before them.  
  
"That's right," said Ken as he pushed the letters across the table  
towards them.  
  
"You say Ryu will be there?" said Ryoga as he looked down at the  
letter in confusion.  
  
"He'll be there, I'm sure of it," said Ken with a short nod. "I  
want to know who knew you were going to be here. Someone had to know  
where you were going to be to send these here."  
  
"I dunno, we weren't planning on coming here. That guy at the bar  
sent us," said Ranma.  
  
"This is weird," said Ken as he looked at his own letter.  
  
"We weren't exactly keeping it a secret," said Ryoga with a small  
shrug. "We've been asking around about Ryu for more than two months  
now."  
  
"Someone may have figured that'd lead you here sooner or later,"  
said Ken with a small nod. "I've just got one question. Are you two  
going?"  
  
Ranma looked up from eating again. "Sure. I guess we should. It'd  
be kind of a waste too do all this searching and then stop now. I  
still want to find Ryu, so I'm in."  
  
Ryoga looked at the pair for a long moment. "No way am I going to  
back out now. I've got to prove I'm better than Ranma once and for  
all."  
  
Ken smiled at them. "Great, we'll go together then."  
  
"Huh? You want to come with us?" said Ranma as he looked at the  
man in surprise.  
  
"Sure, I hate traveling alone," said Ken with a small shrug. "I  
want to find out how this ends up for you two anyway."  
  
"Okay," said Ranma with a small shrug before he started eating  
again.  
  
"I don't see why not," said Ryoga in agreement.  
  
"Great, the tournament is in three days. We'll leave tomorrow,"  
said Ken cheerfully.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The World!  
  
Part 15  
  
Thailand, the end, and beyond.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So, this is Thailand?" muttered Ryoga as he glanced around at his  
surroundings.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Ranma with a small frown. Things were basically  
what he had expected. Going through customs had been boring, and now  
they were on the street again.  
  
Ken approached the pair from behind and slapped them both on the  
back. "Well, we made it."  
  
"Yeah, now what?" said Ranma as he looked at the new land around  
him with Ryoga.  
  
Ken gave a small shrug. "We'll stop for a bite to eat, and then go  
to the hotel for the night. We'll go to the village where the  
tournament will be held tomorrow. It'll take all day, and that'll give  
us a night to get ready once we arrive."  
  
"Ryu will be there?" asked Ryoga with a slight impatience in his  
voice.  
  
"Probably not, he doesn't like hotels much. He'll probably find a  
place to sleep outside, in the wilderness somewhere," said Ken with a  
slight chuckle. "Don't worry, he won't miss this fight. He'll be there  
when we get there."  
  
"Good," snorted the lost boy roughly.  
  
"Jeez, he kinda reminds me of Ryu," muttered Ken as he watched the  
boy stand there with his arms crossed, looking rather intimidating,  
despite the fact that he and Ranma were the shortest people in the  
crowd.  
  
"Really?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"Yeah, why are you two so hot to find him anyway?" said Ken as he  
walked with them.  
  
"He beat me in a fight in Nerima," said Ranma with a small shrug.  
"I never back down from a challenge like that. I'll find him, and beat  
him this time."  
  
"Sounds like something he'd do," said Ken with a small sigh.  
"Well, I'm not about to say I wouldn't do the same I suppose."  
  
"We've been looking for months," said Ryoga casually as he moved  
up beside them.  
  
"Really? He travels a lot, I'm not surprised you've had trouble  
finding him," said Ken as he looked up at the sky. "That doesn't  
explain the whole Shoryuken thing though."  
  
"It was the strongest move I'd ever seen, I couldn't think of a  
way to counter it, so I figured I'd learn it," said Ranma calmly.  
  
"I suppose that makes sense," said Ken with a small chuckle.  
  
"What's with this tournament thing anyway?" said Ryoga.  
  
Ken smirked at him for a moment. "Pretty simple, some guy named  
Bison put up a bunch of cash that says no one can beat him. He's  
holding a tournament to decide who gets to challenge him. Ryu knows  
I'm here, so he'll be here. It'll attract all sorts of others too."  
  
"Good," said Ryoga with a small nod.  
  
"Well, this place looks good. I'll buy you guys lunch," said Ken  
as he pointed out a restaurant.  
  
"Yeah, thanks," said Ranma with a smile on his face.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
"So, this is the place?" said Ranma as he looked around at the  
dirt road that ran through the center of the town they found  
themselves in.  
  
"Pretty much, hasn't changed much since the last time I was here,"  
said Ken as he glanced back at them for a moment.  
  
Ryoga was relatively silent, and followed closely behind the pair.  
"I don't see what the big deal is."  
  
"Well, the tournament starts in the morning," said Ken as he  
looked up at a small mountain that was just outside the town.  
"According to the invitations, it'll be there." He pointed up at a  
small temple about halfway up the rocky surface.  
  
"We should go then," said Ranma.  
  
"Right," agreed Ryoga.  
  
"Well, it's sure to be one hell of a fight, if last time was any  
indication," said Ken as he smiled to himself.  
  
"Last time?" said Ranma as he looked back at the man for a moment.  
  
"That's right, last time I was here, Ryu and I fought it out. I  
lost, and he went on to beat Sagat, the Mui Thai champion. Thinking  
back on it, I'm kinda glad I lost."  
  
"Why is that?" said Ryoga in confusion.  
  
"You've never seen Sagat," said Ken as he started forward.  
  
Ranma and Ryoga quickly followed behind him.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So, we're certain he'll be here?" muttered Chun Li as she glanced  
up at the mountain. She was standing opposite Guile, on the other end  
of town. Both of them were dressed in casual clothing, a shirt and  
blue jeans.  
  
"The smug bastard sent us invitations," said the man angrily.  
  
"It could be a trap," warned Chun Li.  
  
"I wouldn't doubt it," agreed Guile.  
  
"There'll be a lot of fighters here, this is some kind of  
underground event for street fighters," said Chun Li calmly. "Once a  
year the best of them come here."  
  
"I read the report, so we're entering? Or do we call for backup?"  
said Guile with a smirk forming on his face.  
  
"We'll call for help, after I've taken my revenge out of that  
monster's hide," said Chun Li firmly.  
  
"We could end up fighting against one another you know," said  
Guile calmly as he lifted a duffel bag off the ground and pulled it  
over his shoulder.  
  
Chun Li merely glanced at him, and hefted a backpack up in the  
same manner. "You'd better be ready to lose then."  
  
Guile smirked at that and followed behind her and walked towards  
the mountain.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"So, it begins," said Bison. He was sitting in a throne like chair  
within a chamber made of metal walls. There was only a single light,  
and a large screen in front of him.  
  
"Ryu will be here," said Sagat coldly. He was standing directly  
behind him with his arms crossed over his chest.  
  
"That should be interesting indeed," commented Bison lazily. An  
aura of power formed around him and he chuckled. "You'll get your  
chance, we should weed out some of the weak first. I doubt if he'll be  
defeated by anyone here."  
  
"Of course not," agreed Sagat. "I shall enter this fight, I want  
my skills to be sharp when I face him."  
  
"Very well, you shall face him in the last match then. I shall see  
to that personally," said Bison.  
  
"Thank you sir." Sagat turned and walked through an automatic door  
just behind his master's chair.  
  
"Balrog, has he arrived yet?"  
  
A large black man dressed in a suit appeared on the screen in  
front of Bison. Balrog blinked in surprise for a moment.  
  
"No sir, he hasn't," he said dumbly.  
  
"I grow impatient," said Bison with a slight frown.  
  
"He'll be here, Ken Masters has arrived with two boys with him. I  
know he won't miss this fight," said the man calmly.  
  
"You'd better be right. I'm risking a lot by being here in  
person," said Bison coldly.  
  
"What of those two cops?" asked the man.  
  
"Those pig headed fools, they are of no concern. They are too  
consumed by their own thirst for vengeance to risk having me arrested  
so soon." Bison chuckled to himself again. "Don't worry, they are  
hardly a threat."  
  
"Should we watch them? Just in case?" asked Balrog with a slight  
nod of his head.  
  
"Very well," said Bison. The screen went black again as he cut off  
the transmission. His eyes started to glow as he stared forward  
vacantly. "I feel his presence. He is here."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Wow," said Ranma as they walked out onto the field. There were  
several other fighters standing around.  
  
Ken nodded and glanced around at the competition for a moment. "I  
don't see Ryu yet."  
  
"This isn't so bad," said Ryoga as he nodded at one of the passing  
fighters.  
  
They continued to wander for a moment, passing a few others, but  
never within more than ten feet. Everyone was purposely avoiding one  
another.  
  
"This is weird," commented Ranma.  
  
"They wish to avoid contact, so that their styles remain secret  
until the battles begin," said a new voice from behind them.  
  
The trio turned around in unison, Ken was the only one who did not  
take up a stance.  
  
"Tell me, did you find what you were searching for?" said the  
skinny Indian monk who stood calmly beside them.  
  
"You!" said Ranma in shock.  
  
"Hey, Dhalsim. Long time no see," said Ken with a smirk on his  
face.  
  
"It is agreeable to see you again," said the monk with a slight  
bow of his head.  
  
"You fighting?" asked Ken.  
  
"Of course, I wish to face this evil as many of the others here  
do," said the man in reply. "We have lost many of our allies, but now  
others come to take their places."  
  
"Evil?" muttered Ken in confusion. "I dunno what you're talking  
about, but I look forward to the fight."  
  
"Hmmm," mumbled the monk with another nod. "The dragon is also  
drawn to face this darkness. I feel his chi, He is very near."  
  
"Dragon?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"He means Ryu," said Ken in a slightly amused tone. "I'm not sure  
how he does that, but he's never wrong."  
  
"Well, maybe we should find him then," said Ryoga as he glanced  
around for a moment.  
  
"No. We'll talk with him after the fight. Ryu will avoid me before  
then, we won't see him until this is over, or if he's in the ring,"  
said Ken with a small frown.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
A shadowy figure waited patiently as Guile and Chun Li walked  
towards the temple in the mountains. Cloaked in a baggy hood, the  
figure let out a small snort before following close behind them.  
  
"Bison won't escape so easily this time, I'll make sure of that."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
The evening came and went, passing quietly for the most part. The  
morning that followed bustled with life though; spectators came from  
all over. Not only the village below, but also mobs of tourists,  
mostly rich people who had somehow gotten wind of the events over the  
years. Limousines seemed to fill the dirt streets as various thrill  
seekers came from around the world, hoping to watch the battles.  
  
"Man, I hate this part," muttered Ken as he pushed through the  
crowds outside the temple gates. They towered overhead, hiding the  
gigantic statues that rested along the grounds of the small shrine at  
the center. Finally, he pushed through the crowd and showed his  
invitation to one of the bulky looking uniformed guards.  
  
The man waved him in and shoved several onlookers back forcefully.  
"Spectators are not allowed inside until the fights begin."  
  
"Damn, where did those two kids get off too?" said Ken as he  
glanced around at the gathered warriors. He spotted them after a  
moment and waved his arm. "Hey!"  
  
"Hey look," said Ranma as he noticed the man waving at them. "Come  
on."  
  
Ryoga frowned, but followed after him. "This had better be worth  
all the trouble we've gone through."  
  
"Hey, you left early?" said Ken as he jogged up to the pair.  
  
"I wanted to make sure we made it here," said Ranma as he gave  
Ryoga a quick glance.  
  
The lost boy didn't seem to notice the comment and stood silently.  
His arms were folded across his chest as he watched the area where the  
fights would take place impatiently. It was a small clearing, just in  
front of a large stone statue that was laid across the ground.  
  
"Well, I wish I'd thought of coming sooner. It's a mob out there,"  
said Ken as he looked back towards the gates. "You seen Ryu around?"  
  
Ranma nodded and turned his head towards a small grassy area. The  
Japanese martial artist was sitting in meditation, away from the area  
where most of the other fighters had gathered. "He was like that when  
we got here."  
  
"That's normal, he's way too serious sometimes," muttered Ken as  
he seemed to lose interest after finding out his friend had arrived.  
  
++++++++++++++++  
  
About a half an hour later, a hole opened up in the ground. From  
within some hidden chamber, deep inside the earth, a chair slowly rose  
from the ground.  
  
"Welcome fighters!" said the scarlet clad man who rose from the  
throne like chair. "Today, we shall see who is truly the strongest in  
the world! You fight for the chance to face me in battle, along with a  
generous cash prize as well. Whatever your motivation, do not think  
for a moment that your battle will be an easy one. Now, we will  
begin." He turned away, seating himself back in his chair once again.  
Without another word, he flicked a switch, and was slowly lowered back  
into the earth again.  
  
"Here we go," said Ken calmly as he watched the first pair of men  
step into the ring. One a small man dressed in a pink dogi.  
  
His opponent was much more intimidating, a huge man bulging with  
muscles upon muscles. His body covered in scars, including a rather  
large one that ran up his chest. He also sported an eye patch over one  
eye.  
  
"Whoa," muttered Ranma as he watched the man stand over his  
opponent and glare down at him.  
  
"That's Sagat," said Ken.  
  
"Hey, I know that guy," said Ryoga, as he looked at the man in the  
pink dogi for a moment.  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma as he glanced at his companion in confusion.  
  
"I only met him once. That's my cousin, Dan Hibiki."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Dan Hibiki had been waiting for this day for years. At last, he  
finally had his chance. His martial arts were perfected, and he was  
confident he was as strong as he'd ever be.  
  
Sagat glared down at him coldly, not bothering to speak.  
  
He looked up and smirked at the man. "I'll have my revenge at  
last."  
  
"You'll die," said Sagat coldly as he took up a stance.  
  
"Ha! Take this!" cried Dan as he jumped forward and attacked. He  
lashed out in a flying kick that was easily deflected by the massive  
man's forearm.  
  
Sagat said nothing, but crouched down before Dan landed. His body  
tensed and he thrust his arms forward. "Tiger!" A small blast of  
flames slammed into Dan before he hit the ground, blasting him back  
several feet before he landed.  
  
"I barely felt that," muttered Dan as he struggled to his feet. He  
turned his head and spit out a small amount of blood.  
  
Sagat chuckled and grabbed the man by his head, lifting him off  
the ground. "Pathetic," he said quietly as the man simply hung there.  
  
Dan punched at the man's chest, missing by several inches with  
each swing.  
  
Sagat snarled and slammed his knee into the man's body over and  
over, switching sides. Bones could be heard breaking as he  
relentlessly pounded the man in his grip. Dan's screams of pain were  
muffled by Sagat's palm as he kept his grip firmly planted on the  
man's face.  
  
Finally, Dan went limp. Sagat lowered him to the ground, and  
dragged him away by his face off the field.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga was in shock. His mouth hung open as he watched his cousin  
being beaten within an inch of his life. "No..."  
  
Ranma's expression was similar. "That was inhuman!"  
  
"Now you've met Sagat," said Ken with a tight frown on his face.  
  
"That monster! I'll kill him!" raged Ryoga. His battle aura  
burning around him like a bonfire.  
  
"You'll calm down, right now," snapped Ken. He turned to face the  
boy and glared at him for a moment. "You'll get your chance if you're  
strong enough. If you go charging through here, you'll piss a lot of  
people off. People who wouldn't think anything of breaking you in half  
to make sure the tournament goes on. I don't care how strong you are,  
you couldn't fight all of them."  
  
Ryoga stepped back and lowered his head. He calmed visibly and  
growled in anger and frustration.  
  
Ranma mostly ignored the scene. He watched the ring as the next  
two competitors walked in. "Ryu's fighting."  
  
"Is he?" said Ken as he turned his attention back again.  
  
Ryoga's interest was in another place, he walked towards where  
Sagat had dumped Dan. He didn't particularly care if he got lost after  
that at this point, but he had to check on the man.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ryu stood off against a beastly looking man. The thing was green,  
with a shock of bright orange hair hanging around his face. "It's been  
a while."  
  
The thing grunted in recognition. "Yes, Blanka not like losing so  
soon."  
  
"Well, you've gotten stronger since the last time. Maybe you'll  
win?" said Ryu as a smirk formed on his face.  
  
"Blanka very strong, but he know limits very well. He must be very  
lucky to beat," said the green man with a slight chuckle. "Who know,  
maybe lucky day?"  
  
"Maybe," agreed Ryu as he put up his fists.  
  
Blanka roared, his body beginning too buzz with electrical power.  
A shower of golden sparks shot into the ground from his back, sliding  
across his arms and legs before dispersing into the earth.  
  
Ryu simply waited, and the beast didn't make him wait. The wild  
man jumped forward, rolling into a ball as he sailed through the air.  
  
The Japanese man sidestepped, and lashed out with a kick that  
caught the beast man as he landed. Blanka grunted in pain and brought  
fourth his electrical field again, but he wasn't fast enough and Ryu  
pulled his leg away and stepped back again to wait.  
  
"Heh, man cannot wait forever," said Blanka as he continued to  
create his shield. "Blanka stay here as long as it takes."  
  
"Your call," said Ryu as he shifted his stance. He thrust his  
hands out and forward. "Hadoken!" The fireball blasted forward and  
slammed into the wild man's chest, sending him sprawling across the  
ground.  
  
"Ooh, Blanka forget about that, bad," muttered the thing as he  
rubbed at his head for a moment.  
  
"You would do well to remember in the future," said Ryu as he  
charged forward as the wild man stood to his feet.  
  
"Uh oh."  
  
"Tatsumakisenpukayaku!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Ouch," commented Ken as he turned his head away.  
  
"Where's Ryoga?" muttered Ranma as he realized his friend was  
gone.  
  
"Huh? I dunno?" said Ken as he glanced around the field for a  
moment.  
  
"Damn him!" snapped Ranma as he jogged off to find him. "Stupid  
lost boy!"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Hey, don't I know you?" muttered Dan painfully as he looked up at  
the blur standing over him.  
  
"Yeah," said Ryoga. He was bandaging the man's arm as best he  
could. "It's me, Ryoga."  
  
"Heh, li'l Ryoga?" said the man with a slight delirium in his voice.  
  
"That's right. How do you feel?" said the boy as he helped the man  
sit up.  
  
"I dunno, like someone just kicked the shit out of me?" said Dan  
irritably. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm fighting," said Ryoga.  
  
"What? You can't! You'll be..." said Dan in shock.  
  
"I saw your fight, man, you're pathetic," said Ryoga with a slight  
smirk forming on your face.  
  
"Hey, I was doing martial arts when you were just..."  
  
"What did you mean 'revenge?" interrupted Ryoga.  
  
Dan hung his head. "Oh yeah, I failed. I guess I'm not one to  
talk."  
  
"Listen, I don't know what's going on, but I recognized where you  
were aiming that kick. You weren't trying to just beat him."  
  
"You know about that?" said Dan in shock.  
  
"I used to use the sealed move of the Hibiki family myself a lot.  
Back when I first met Ranma," said Ryoga with a dark look forming in  
his eyes. "It never worked out, and eventually I had to find something  
else."  
  
"Who's Ranma? Is he dead?" asked Dan with a surprised look on his  
face.  
  
"No, he's here too. I'm not too concerned with killing him these  
days," said Ryoga with his features growing slightly lighter.  
  
"At any rate, that monster, he's the one who killed your Uncle  
Jiro," said Dan with a hateful frown. "I'm going to get my revenge,  
just as soon as I can stand up again."  
  
"You're going to stay here," said Ryoga calmly. "You're in no  
condition to fight right now."  
  
"You'd better stay away from Sagat," said Dan with a warning tone  
in his voice.  
  
"Like you can stop me," said the lost boy with a small chuckle.  
"I'm not here for revenge. I've got my own problems. This man, he will  
pay though."  
  
"The hell! He's mine!" Dan punched at his cousin, and gasped in  
shock as the boy casually caught his fist.  
  
"Stay out of trouble for now," said Ryoga as he stood up and  
walked away, leaving him to rest on the grass.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Come on, ya gotta git wit da rhythm," said the Jamaican man who  
stood dancing from foot to foot in front of Ranma.  
  
"Damn!" said the pigtailed boy as he jumped over a wide sweeping  
kick and landed a short distance back. "Rhythm huh?" A smirk formed on  
his face as he watched the man move around. "I think I get it."  
  
DeeJay charged forward again, lashing out with a combination  
attack. He picked up his tempo as the boy dodged around his attack  
easily.  
  
"Wha? How you is doin dis?"  
  
Ranma's smirk widened into a grin, and he began to count out time  
out loud as he dodged. "One, two, three, one, two, three..." He ducked  
low under one of the man's kicks and spun around to dodge the other  
leg. "It's a nice dance, but once you figure out the beat..."  
  
"We'll just change de tempo den," said the man with his grin  
forming.  
  
"No thanks, I don't dance with guys," said Ranma as he jumped high  
into the air. "Metsubo Ryu Kiyaku!" He sliced downward through the air  
at an angle, with his leg extended towards the ground. Unfortunately,  
DeeJay was between him and the ground.  
  
The black man was tossed back and down, rolling across the ground  
as the kick connected.  
  
"That's the end of that," said Ranma as he looked down at the man  
for a moment. He turned away and walked out of the clearing.  
  
Ken met him at the sidelines, Ryoga was standing beside him.  
  
"Nice move, I found your friend by the way."  
  
"Thanks, I'd hate too miss the rest of this cause he wandered  
off," said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"Shut up, Saotome!" said Ryoga angrily.  
  
"Hey! I was lookin for you, I almost missed that fight cause of  
you!" said the pigtailed boy in retort.  
  
"I just went too check on my cousin," said Ryoga as he turned his  
head away.  
  
"How is he?" asked Ken.  
  
"He'll live," muttered Ryoga. He then turned towards Ranma again.  
"You've got a new move."  
  
"Yeah, it's a reversed Dragon Punch. More offensive, and Saotome  
Ryu is mostly airborne," said Ranma.  
  
"I noticed," said Ken with a smirk forming on his face. "It's  
faster, but less powerful. Your style is based off of speed, so it  
would actually fit your needs better."  
  
"Um yeah," said Ranma. "Something like that."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Chun Li found herself standing across from a cloaked figure. She  
frowned as she recognized the face hidden within the robes. "Well, I  
didn't expect to find you here."  
  
"I could have you both arrested," said a feminine voice as Cammy  
removed the hood from her head. She smirked and narrowed her eyes at  
the woman. "Taking things into your own hands this way. I know that  
neither one of you is strong enough to beat lord Bison."  
  
Chun Li narrowed her eyes. "You traitorous little bitch, you would  
do something like that."  
  
"You know, you aren't helping your case love," said Cammy coolly.  
"I've already called for backup. I'm not going to have your revenge  
screw this up. It'll be some time before they arrive, so this  
tournament should keep him here."  
  
"Does Guile know?" said Chun Li coldly.  
  
"I don't think you quite understand the situation love. I'm not  
here to arrest you, I don't care if you get yourself killed trying to  
avenge your father. I don't want Bison escaping because you two were  
too stupid to call for help. I know you wouldn't, you'd both have died  
first."  
  
Chun Li growled and took up an offensive stance. "What about you  
then?"  
  
Cammy smirked at her. "That bastard stole my mind, I'll gladly die  
to avenge that. I just might in fact, but I'll die knowing I had the  
last laugh."  
  
Chun Li nodded, she couldn't fault the girl's logic there. "But,  
it seems we've drawn lucky straws then. Only one of us will get the  
chance to avenge ourselves now."  
  
"It's just as well, I've always wanted to see just how strong you  
really are," said Cammy coldly.  
  
"Come on, and I'll show you," said Chun Li.  
  
"I've killed men a hundred times better than you!" snapped Cammy  
as she charged forward.  
  
"I am the strongest woman in the world!" cried Chun Li as she met  
the charge by jumping into the air and hopping off of the woman's  
head.  
  
Cammy staggered under the force of the blow and turned quickly. It  
was too late though. "Damn!"  
  
"Spinning Bird Kick!"  
  
Cammy was struck by the attack twice before Chun Li stopped  
spinning and landed on the ground in a low stance.  
  
"That hurt!" snapped the British girl angrily.  
  
"Stop complaining and fight!" countered Chun Li as she lashed out  
with a kick.  
  
Cammy snarled as she ducked under the strike and kicked up,  
sailing into the air and catching her opponent across her jaw. "Cannon  
Spike!"  
  
Rather than reel back from the blow, Chun Li performed a backflip,  
she landed back on her feet and rushed forward. "I have you!  
Yayayayayayayayaya!" Her leg became a blur as she caught Cammy in mid  
air as she came down. The fight was over. The Chinese woman looked  
down at her opponent's beaten body and smirked. "You know, I've always  
wanted to do that to you." She turned away and walked off, leaving the  
woman on the ground.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The next fight belonged to Ken. He stood in front of the giant  
statue and looked up at his opponent. "Hiya."  
  
Zangief towered over him, glaring down at him. "So, we meet again  
little one."  
  
"Um yeah, I guess we're next," said Ken cheerfully.  
  
"I had hoped to try new move against other, but you do nice," said  
the gigantic Russian.  
  
"New move?" said Ken nervously. Fighting Zangief was not a  
painless experience the last time he had done it.  
  
"Yes, little man, Zangief has finally perfected his pile driver!"  
The Russian roared with laughter for a moment after he said that.  
  
"Oh boy," muttered Ken nervously as he stepped back into a ready  
stance.  
  
"Come, we will fight now!" said Zangief as he spread his arms wide  
and slowly stalked forward.  
  
"If you insist!" said Ken as he jumped straight up and kicked the  
man dead in his face.  
  
Zangief staggered back, holding his nose. Ken wasted no time  
pressing his advantage, he rushed forward punching the man in his gut  
repeatedly. Unfortunately, Zangief had recovered, and slammed his fist  
into the much smaller man.  
  
Ken was thrown into the air by the force of the blow, and rolled  
across the ground for a moment. "Ouch."  
  
"Ha ha ha! I like you as always, even if you are an American. Not  
many can take even one of my blows!" said the Russian cheerfully.  
  
"Yeah, glad to oblige," muttered Ken as he kicked himself back  
onto his feet and prepared himself again.  
  
"Come!" said Zangief as he waved his opponent towards him.  
  
"Right," said Ken with a small sigh as he put up his fists and  
rushed forward.  
  
Zangief dove forward, his arms spread wide as he attempted to land  
on top of Ken and grab him. He half expected him to move aside,  
unfortunately, the smaller man didn't even falter.  
  
"Sho Ryu Ken!"  
  
Zangief's momentum was reversed in an instant, and his entire body  
burst into flames. He sailed in a wide arc and came down on his back.  
The flames died out as soon as he landed and he merely remained where  
he was.  
  
"Are you done already?" said Ken in confusion.  
  
"I not remember move being so hot before," muttered the Russian in  
confusion. He had a strangely contemplative look about him.  
  
"Um, yeah," said Ken as he leaned over and looked down at the  
man's face.  
  
"Well, I not alone in perfecting moves then. Not ready for such an  
attack. I lose."  
  
"Well, I hope I get to see that move sometime," said Ken as he  
walked away.  
  
"Perhaps I put a bit more work into it," said the Russian as he  
stood up and shrugged his shoulders.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What's he doing here?" said Ryoga as he looked at the next pair  
of fighters.  
  
"Hey! It's that guy!" said Ranma as she watched Guile walk up to  
Dhalsim. The monk was waiting for him calmly, floating above the  
ground  
in a meditative pose.  
  
"I dunno," said Ken as he eyed the man. "Man, I haven't seen him  
in a while. We used to hang around his partner on occasion. That guy  
isn't much of a people person though."  
  
"Tell me about it," said Ryoga as he watched the fight start.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Yoga!" Dhalsim lurched forward, spitting a ball of flames at his  
opponent.  
  
"Sonic Boom!" cried Guile as he countered with two vacuum blades that  
spun towards the monk and disintegrated his flame attack.  
  
"You are most skilled, but I have the light on my side," said  
Dhalsim calmly.  
  
"I'm not here for you, stand down," said the American firmly.  
  
"I cannot, although it pains me to push aside Mohammed's ideals. I  
must fight, for the sake of my people," said the monk as he floated in  
the air opposite the man.  
  
"How do you expect this to help your people?" said Guile with a  
frown on his face.  
  
"The money I shall win from this battle will help my country. It  
will be used to feed the hungry, and clothe our children. Muhammad was  
not able to save their lives with all his ideals, but perhaps I can  
save but a few. This will ensure that future generations will grow,  
and with that strength, we shall overcome the disgusting poverty in  
which my people suffer."  
  
"I feel sorry for you, but I'm not here for the money," said Guile  
as he put up his fists again.  
  
"It is not the money alone that had drawn me here. I must face the  
darkness that is here as well," said Dhalsim with a small nod.  
"Perhaps  
it is not our destiny, but I can see that we both must try."  
  
"I think you're completely nuts," said Guile as he rushed up to  
the monk. Dhalsim vanished from in front of him as he punched at him.  
  
"Fear, anger, hatred, the dark side are they," said the monk as he  
appeared behind the man.  
  
"Flash Kick!" cried Guile as he spun around and flipped into his  
chi powered kick. Dhalsim could not teleport away in time, and took  
the  
full brunt of the blow.  
  
The monk was on the ground and struggling back too his feet when  
Guile charged again, sending his knee into the man's face. The fight  
ended rather quickly after that. "I hated that movie," said Guile as  
he turned away.  
  
Dhalsim struggled and pushed himself up onto his hands again.  
"Wait! I know not what you speak of, but if you face this darkness  
with these emotions within you, they will consume you!"  
  
Guile paused and looked over his shoulder. "If that's true, I was  
lost a long time ago."  
  
"Then I was correct, it is not your destiny either," with that  
said, the monk passed out.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga was the next up for a fight. He cracked his knuckles  
impatiently and frowned as he found himself standing in front of a  
towering Native American.  
  
"Are we the only normal sized people here?" grumbled the boy  
irritably.  
  
"I came here to face strong fighters, and this is what I find?"  
said the man as he glared down at Ryoga.  
  
"You don't know what strong is," snorted the lost boy angrily.  
  
"I do not have time for children's games boy, walk away before I  
am forced to harm you," said the man calmly.  
  
"I don't have to take this from you! Come on!" snarled Ryoga as he  
moved into a combat stance.  
  
"I am Thunder Hawk! Greatest warrior of my people! You are too  
small and frail to fight me boy," said the man angrily.  
  
"I'll show you!" snapped Ryoga as he rushed forward and slammed  
his fist into the man's gut.  
  
T. Hawk bent forward with a surprised look on his face. "S-such  
strength?" He staggered back for a moment and chopped at Ryoga's  
shoulder.  
  
The boy just stood there and took the blow. He glanced at the spot  
and rubbed at it in irritation. "That hurt."  
  
"What?" said the Native American as he gasped in horror.  
  
"Hadoken!"  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"Well, that was short," said Ranma as he watched the scene calmly.  
  
"What is this guy? He took a blow like that and he's still  
standing?" muttered Ken as he looked on in shock.  
  
"There ain't much that can hurt Ryoga," said Ranma with a small  
nod. "He's trained his endurance to the limit. He's got weaknesses  
though."  
  
"Like what?" asked Ken.  
  
Ryoga walked over too them, an irritated frown on his face. He  
opened his mouth, and then fell forward, landing on his knees. He held  
his shoulder and grit his teeth painfully. "That really hurt! I can't  
believe I was dumb enough to just stand there!"  
  
Ken rolled his eyes and sighed.  
  
+++++++++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The World  
  
Part 16  
  
Honor and Anger.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ryu stood off against a massive looking black man dressed in a  
torn sweatshirt and boxing shorts. The man grinned at him, revealing a  
missing tooth. His opponent slammed his gloves together in  
anticipation. Ryu simply stood calmly, watching the man.  
  
"So, you must be Ryu," said the man cockily.  
  
"That's right," he replied.  
  
"I hear you're the strongest there is. I don't see it," said the  
black man calmly.  
  
"I've heard about you also, banned from boxing in your own country  
for excessive brutality. Balrog, the one time heavyweight champion of  
the world," said Ryu as he looked the man up and down for a moment.  
  
"Yeah, it was boring anyway," said Balrog with a small shrug. "I  
prefer a real fight."  
  
Ryu just nodded and put up his fists.  
  
Balrog closed in slowly, taking quick jabs at his opponent.  
Despite his rough demeanor, he was an experienced fighter, and  
therefore cautious.  
  
Ryu backed away, waiting for an opening in the man's defense.  
There wasn't much there, any holes were quickly closed, traps for less  
experienced fighters.  
  
Balrog shot forward, extending his arm in a hard strike. Ryu  
ducked under it and lashed out with a quick jab to the man's stomach.  
  
Balrog quickly closed himself up and backed away. "You're stronger  
than you look."  
  
Ryu just nodded, his senses were on full alert though. The man  
could punch hard. Just the force of his arm passing was enough to tell  
him that. He wouldn't be able to take many strikes at all.  
  
"Come on!" snarled Balrog as he moved his arms excitedly,  
attempting to fake the smaller fighter out. "I'm gettin tired of  
playin around."  
  
Ryu calmly advanced, slowly. Balrog responded by lashing out with  
a right hook.  
  
The martial artist lashed out with his leg, striking his  
opponent's shins and forcing him back again. His eyes narrowed and he  
tightened up his body. "His legs..." he thought to himself.  
  
"That's more like it! Come on!" snapped the boxer.  
  
Ryu rushed forward, straight into the man's waiting punch  
combination. The strikes were missed though, as Ryu fell on his back  
and lashed out in a quick scissors kick that sent the boxer down face  
first into the dust. Before the larger man could recover, he slammed  
his knee into the man's face, causing him to roll across the dirt.  
  
"Damn," muttered Balrog as he staggered to his feet and rubbed at  
his face for a moment.  
  
Ryu was already charging forward, before the boxer got his senses  
back he jumped into a kick that caught him in his face again and sent  
him down hard on his back. Ryu landed softly opposite him, a good  
distance away.  
  
"Not bad," said Balrog as he stood up again. He moved his head  
from side to side, cracking his neck loudly.  
  
Ryu's frown deepened and he prepared himself again. Balrog did not  
disappoint him. The larger man rushed forward, his fists flying and  
tearing through the air. Ryu was barely able to keep away as he ducked  
and juked out of the man's range. Finally, Balrog slowed.  
  
Ryu took advantage of the man's momentary disorientation and  
fatigue. He jumped up, slamming his knee into the man's jaw. Balrog  
sailed up into the air and came down on his back once again. This  
time, he didn't get up.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma stood with Ken and Ryoga, none of them had spoken for some  
time as they watched the fighting. There wasn't much else to do  
really, and there were quite a few impressive fighters there. All of  
them watched every battle with careful stares. Absorbing the styles,  
and contemplating counter measures for what they saw.  
  
"Ranma, you're up," said Ken with a small nod.  
  
The pigtailed boy turned his head slightly and watched the ring  
for a moment. He saw someone familiar moving through the crowd towards  
the dirt arena. "Ryoga, give me that water," said the boy calmly.  
  
"Huh? No way! Go buy your own!" snapped the lost boy as he pulled  
the bottled water he had been drinking to his chest protectively.  
  
"Damn it, P-chan!" snapped Ranma irritably.  
  
"How dare you call me that!" snapped Ryoga as he splashed the boy  
with his drink.  
  
"Heh, thanks piggy!" said Ranma with a dumb looking grin as she  
rushed towards the arena.  
  
Ken simply stared at the scene calmly, not saying a word.  
  
"I can't believe that jerk! The nerve of him! When this is over,  
I'm gonna..." Ryoga trailed off as he noticed Ken's expression had not  
changed, and he had not yet moved. "Hey." He waved his hand in front  
of the man's face and got no response. "Hey!" Ken simply stood, not  
moving. "Great," muttered Ryoga as he poked the man's cheek for a  
moment. "Out cold."  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Chun Li stood in the middle of the arena impatiently. Bison had  
appeared for a moment at the beginning of the fights, but had vanished  
before she could attack. He was somewhere very secure most likely, and  
out of her reach until he returned in the final bout.  
  
"Where the heck is this guy?" she muttered irritably. No one had  
yet entered to challenge her.  
  
"Hey, lookin for someone?" said Ranma as she stepped into the  
ring, eyeing the Chinese woman angrily.  
  
Chun Li felt her jaw drop. "You!"  
  
"I never thought I'd see you here," said the redhead as she  
cracked her knuckles.  
  
Chun Li narrowed her eyes. "I'm sorry about what happened to you.  
Your record is cleared, but don't think I'm going to go easy on you  
now. This is more important than you could understand."  
  
"I wouldn't want you to go easy on me. I don't usually fight  
girls, but a night in that cell was enough to convince me you need  
this," said Ranma angrily.  
  
"You're deluding yourself! You remember what happened too you last  
time?" snapped Chun Li. "Stand down, or I'll have to hurt you!"  
  
"Ha! I was injured the last time we fought, and I'm a lot stronger  
now than I was then," said the redhead confidently as she spread her  
feet and prepared herself.  
  
"Have it your way then," growled the Chinese woman as she did the  
same.  
  
Ranma rushed forward, running in a full sprint.  
  
"Idiot!" muttered Chun Li under her breath. She prepared to simply  
deck the girl, when she vanished from in front of her. "What the?!"  
  
"Ha!" Ranma descended from above and landed on the woman's back,  
sending her staggering forward.  
  
"How did?" muttered Chun Li as she stared back at the girl in  
shock.  
  
"Surprised?" said Ranma cheerfully.  
  
"I'm impressed, but I'm afraid that trick won't work twice," said  
Chun Li calmly.  
  
"Good, you won't be surprised when you lose then," said Ranma as  
she charged forward again.  
  
Chun Li growled at the girl's cocky attitude. They clashed in the  
center of the ring.  
  
"Yahyahyahyahyahyahyah!" cried the Chinese woman as she worked her  
leg in her signature move.  
  
Ranma kept up the pace easily this time. "Katsutenshin  
Amaguriken!" Chun Li found herself tiring quickly, while Ranma merely  
switched from one arm too the other, doing nothing more than blocking  
the kicks. "What's the matter? Gettin tired old lady?"  
  
"Old?" snapped Chun Li irritably. "I am the strongest woman in the  
world!" She jumped up, slashing at the girl with an arcing kick.  
  
Ranma nimbly backed out of range of the strike, smirking wider  
than ever. "Ha! Too bad I'm not a woman!"  
  
"You little brat!" snarled the Chinese woman angrily. "I am not  
old!"  
  
"Sure thing hag!" said Ranma as she stuck out her tongue and  
backed away from the angry swipes the woman was giving her. "You take  
that back little girl!"  
  
"Hey! Who are you callin a girl?" snapped Ranma as she jumped  
forward and passed through Chun Li's defenses as if they weren't  
there.  
  
"What?" said the woman in shock as she jumped back.  
  
Ranma merely frowned at her, with her arms tucked at her sides.  
"Hadoken!" cried the girl as she unleashed a ball of flames at her.  
  
"Damn! Kikoken!" retorted Chun Li as she countered the projectile  
with her own. They canceled each other out as they met and vanished.  
"This girl has some serious power!"  
  
"Got ya!" cried Ranma as she jumped into the air and descended on  
Chun Li.  
  
"Ha! Spinning Air Kick!" cried Chun Li as she twisted and rose  
into a vertical version of her Spinning Bird Kick attack.  
  
Ranma saw the move a split second before it connected. "Metsubo  
Ryu Kyaku!"  
  
The pair collided in mid-air, slamming into one another. Both of  
them landed flat on their backs and lay still for a moment.  
  
Chun Li staggered to her feet and looked at the girl with an odd  
expression on her face. She then fell to her knees and then collapsed  
on the ground.  
  
Ranma stood up shakily and looked down at the woman. She smirked  
at her and walked over beside her. "You know, you ain't bad. You sure  
aren't the strongest woman in the world. I know a little old lady  
who'd beat you in about two seconds lady." She turned away and calmly  
walked out of the arena.  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"First he cheats to beat some ninja, then he robs an old man, then  
he gets arrested, now he beats up some defenseless woman. Ranma  
Saotome! Have you no honor at all?!"  
  
"Can it, Porky," said Ranma irritably as she poured a cup of tea  
she had bought from one of the vendors over her head. "That chick had  
it coming."  
  
Ryoga snorted and strolled towards the ring. "Well, how lucky. We  
both get a fight we've had before."  
  
Guile was standing in the center now, simply waiting for him.  
  
Ranma ignored this and turned to look at Ken, who was still  
standing like he had been when he turned into a girl and left. "Hey.  
You all right?" He paused and waved his hand in front of the man's  
face for a moment. "Jeez. I wonder what's wrong with him?"  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Guile cursed under his breath as he saw who was moving towards  
him. "Shit, this guy again?"  
  
"Well, we meet again," said Ryoga as he cracked his knuckles.  
  
"You were lucky to get away last time," said Guile coldly.  
  
"You were lucky I let you off," replied the boy with a vicious  
looking smirk forming on his face.  
  
"I won't lose to you. I've got something to do here," said the man  
as he glared at the boy for a moment.  
  
"Enough talking," said Ryoga.  
  
"Fine by me!" replied the American.  
  
They both rushed forward. Ryoga and Guile clashed in the center of  
the arena, grabbing each other's shoulders. They pushed against one  
another, trying to force each other down and back.  
  
Guile strained, glaring into the boy's eyes. Ryoga grit his teeth  
and grunted with effort as they stood in a stalemate.  
  
"Not bad kid," said the man through his gasps.  
  
"I'm not even trying that hard!" snapped Ryoga as he shifted his  
momentum suddenly and lifted his opponent off of his feet. He held him  
over his head by his shoulders.  
  
"What the?" snapped Guile in shock. "You're strong kid, I'll give  
you that!" He lashed out with both of his legs, catching Ryoga in his  
chest and sending him sprawling across the dirt. "But it'll take more  
than brute strength to beat me."  
  
"Good thing I'm skilled too," said Ryoga as he stood up and dusted  
himself off. The place where Guile had kicked him burned with a  
throbbing pain. "He's not that strong, but he's fast, and his kicks  
are powerful," thought the boy too himself.  
  
Guile's thoughts were along a similar vein. "Beating this kid  
isn't going to be easy. It's like trying to beat a dump truck into  
submission. I've got to keep my distance."  
  
Ryoga started to stalk forward cautiously.  
  
Guile stepped back and moved around in a circle along the edge of  
the arena. Occasionally, the boy would switch directions suddenly,  
forcing him to do the same. "What's he up too?"  
  
"Quit running away you coward! This isn't a game of tag!" snarled  
Ryoga as he began to grow impatient with the little game.  
  
"All right, if that's the way you want it," said Guile firmly as  
he stood his ground suddenly. He reared back both his arms and slashed  
at the air. "Sonic Boom!" Two vacuum blades of air spun through the  
air towards his opponent.  
  
Ryoga jumped into the air, easily avoiding the strikes. He reached  
up and pulled off one of his bandannas. "Here's a trick I haven't used  
in a while!" He spun it in his hand and tossed it at Guile.  
  
The man stood there dumbly and watched the projectile pass by him  
just too his right. "What the?" he muttered in confusion. That was  
when he felt the sharp pain in his right shoulder, he glanced down and  
saw a small cut begin to bleed just over his tattoo. He turned his  
eyes towards the Japanese boy and gasped, the boy had around twelve of  
the bandannas in his hand now. He stepped back away from the boy. "How  
many of those are you wearing?"  
  
"Do you really want to find out?" snarled Ryoga as he sent all of  
his spinning projectiles into the air. They flew around erratically,  
cutting through the air in crude but curving patterns.  
  
Guile jumped back and forth through the mess of bandannas. Ryoga  
charged forward almost blindly. "Can't jump around can you? There's  
nowhere to run now!"  
  
"Shit!" growled Guile as the boy punched and kicked at him. He  
blocked and dodged as best he could, but the boy's attacks, combined  
with the task of avoiding the spinning projectiles was too much. Ryoga  
managed to land a solid hit across his face with a right hook.  
  
Guile was sent down to his knees by the blow. Ryoga spread his  
arms and prepared to grab the man and crush him. Unfortunately for  
him, Guile was ready. The American jumped straight up, and slashed out  
with a flipping kick that created a vacuum of air. The attack took  
Ryoga dead in his chest, and sent him flying back. Guile landed  
lightly, and the last few bandannas fell too the ground around the  
arena.  
  
Ryoga was lying on his back and not moving for a few seconds.  
Guile snorted and started to turn away. The lost boy slowly rose to  
his feet, his shirt had a long tear in the front, and there was a gash  
along the length of his chest. "Where do you think you're going?"  
  
"What?" said Guile as he turned to face the boy.  
  
"I'll admit that really hurts, but there's no way I'm letting you  
off this easy!" said the boy as he ripped the remains of his torn  
shirt off and tossed them aside.  
  
Guile gasped, the boy's normal body size must have been tiny,  
because he was as muscular as Zangief under his thick clothing.  
  
Ryoga bared his teeth, revealing a pair of menacing looking fangs.  
"This fight is over! Take this! Hadoken!"  
  
Guile turned and attempted to counter the strike with his Sonic  
Boom, but it was too late. The wave of chi energy struck him dead in  
his chest. He fell down in a heap and gasped for breath, the wind  
knocked out of his body by the strike. Ryoga charged forward and  
stepped on his neck before he could recover.  
  
Guile cursed under his breath, and shifted his eyes away. He had  
lost.  
  
++++++++++  
  
Ranma looked on in surprise at how muscular Ryoga had become.  
"Wow, this training must really be paying off for us."  
  
"What the heck are you talking about?" said Ryoga angrily.  
  
"You were always a little bigger than me, but this?" The boy poked  
Ryoga in his chest. "I wonder if I look any different?" he looked down  
at himself and spread his arms to get a better view. "Do I look any  
bigger to you?"  
  
"I suppose so, that shirt could be making you look fat,"  
deadpanned Ryoga.  
  
Ranma looked up at him and narrowed his eyes. "Har har."  
  
Ken turned his head towards Ranma. "Why did you turn into a girl?"  
  
Both boys looked at him dumbly for a moment. "Huh?"  
  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders. "You think that's impressive? You  
should see what he can do."  
  
"Shut your mouth, Saotome!" snapped Ryoga in a panicked voice.  
  
"All right. Jeez, don't blow yer top," muttered the pigtailed boy  
as he rolled his eyes.  
  
"I've never seen a martial arts move like that," said Ken in  
wonder.  
  
"Martial arts? Naw, it's just some weird curse I picked up in  
China," said the boy as he waved the comment off. "Hey, you're up."  
  
Ken nodded and wandered towards the arena.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
"I know you, you're one of Sagat's zealots," said Ken as he stood  
off against the thin Mui Thai warrior. The man had red hair that shot  
back, and had an almost bird-like appearance too him.  
  
"I have renounced that loser. I've come for his title," snapped  
the man. "I am Adon, and I'll not be associated with that overbearing  
old man."  
  
"Well, that's nice," said Ken cheerfully. "Shall we get started?"  
  
"You're just another stepping stone on my path," snorted the man  
in disgust. "Hurry up and lose."  
  
"Boy, you sure are friendly," muttered Ken as he put up his fists.  
  
  
Adon moved forward and kicked out at Ken. The man responded by  
casually swatting aside the strike. The Mui Thai fighter then lashed  
out with a groin strike with his knee. Ken backed away and glared at  
him. "Hey! Watch it!" He punched the man in his face as he recovered  
from the strike.  
  
Adon staggered back for a moment and narrowed his eyes. He jumped  
into the air and spun backwards for a moment. He then stuck out his  
leg and slashed down at an angle, towards Ken. "Jaguar Kick!"  
  
Ken took the blow in his chest and managed to stay on his feet. He  
spun around in a flashy roundhouse that was blocked by Adon's forearm.  
Unfortunately Ken wasn't finished. "Tatsumakisenpukayaku!" Ken spun  
through the air, striking his opponent several times in his face with  
his foot.  
  
Adon was pushed back, but resumed his assault as soon as his  
opponent landed. "Jaguar Elbow!" He rushed forward with a quick elbow  
strike that barely missed as the martial artist sidestepped the blow.  
This left the Mui Thai warrior wide open.  
  
Ken lashed out with an axe kick that hit the man twice. Adon was  
pushed back and clutched at the side of his face painfully. The  
martial artist then spun around into a spinning back kick to his face  
that finished him off. Adon was laid out across the dirt and did not  
move.  
  
"Man, what a loser," snorted Ken as he turned away in disgust.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"So, who's next?" said Ranma impatiently as he looked up at the  
ring.  
  
"There are only a few fighters left," said Ken.  
  
"So we're almost finished then?" said Ryoga as he glanced at the  
arena. One of the small men who assigned the fights walked up too him  
and pointed. He nodded and looked at his companions for a moment.  
"Looks like I'm next."  
  
"Right," agreed Ranma. "Good luck, you're gonna need it," said  
Ranma as he looked at the towering figure in the center of the arena.  
  
"Sagat," muttered Ken. He turned towards Ryoga and frowned. "Be  
careful, he isn't known for being merciful."  
  
"Got it," said Ryoga as he started to walk towards the ring, or so  
he thought. Ranma grabbed him by his collar and turned him in the  
right direction.  
  
As the boy walked off, Ken turned towards Ranma. "Are you sure he  
was going in the wrong direction that time?"  
  
The pigtailed boy shrugged his shoulders. "He's the only one who  
can say for sure."  
  
++++++++++  
  
Sagat chuckled as the muscular looking boy stepped up to him and  
looked up. "Well, what have we here? It'd be a shame to kill one so  
young."  
  
"Yeah, I'd much rather die old, like you," replied the lost boy  
calmly.  
  
Sagat frowned for a moment, and then burst into laughter. "No fear  
in this one. I like that, perhaps I'll allow you to become my student  
after I beat you. If you're still not afraid that is."  
  
"My life has been pure hell for the last sixteen years, I doubt  
you've got much for me to be afraid of," commented the boy bitterly.  
  
"So, you're like me then. Suffering has made us strong," said the  
man with a serious frown.  
  
"I'm nothing like you. You murdered a Hibiki, and it's my duty to  
make sure you pay for that," said the boy firmly.  
  
"So, you intend to kill me then boy?" said the man with another  
amused smirk.  
  
"Killing you won't bring him back, making you suffer will allow  
him to rest in peace," said Ryoga with a slight smirk of his own. "It  
isn't my place to exact revenge for him. His son asked that I save  
some of you for him."  
  
"I see, a fight merely to fight then. I accept this offer," said  
Sagat coldly. He lashed out with his knee, catching Ryoga in the chest  
and lifting the boy into the air. He casually swiped him out of the  
air with his hand and held him at arm's length. "You're as weak as the  
other." He slammed his knee into the boy's side, but gasped as Ryoga  
reached out and latched onto it with his arms. Sagat pulled for a  
moment and gasped as he was unable to free himself. Finally, he  
released the boy's head and snapped his leg out, throwing the boy  
across the ring.  
  
Ryoga landed on his feet and slowly stood upright. "I hope you can  
hit harder than that."  
  
Sagat frowned, no man had ever smiled after being struck by him  
before. He pulled his arms back and roared with anger. "Tiger!"  
  
"Hadoken!" snapped Ryoga as he countered the projectile with his  
own.  
  
"Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!" Sagat repeated his attack again and again.  
Ryoga attempted to counter, but he could not keep up. He screamed in  
rage and pain as the fireballs struck him again and again.  
  
"Damn you!" snarled the lost boy as he walked into the attacks,  
staggering, but moving ever closer too his opponent. "I won't lose!"  
  
"Stubborn whelp!" said Sagat as the boy began to move too close  
for his liking. He ducked low and struck out just as the boy was  
within range. "Tiger Uppercut!"  
  
Ryoga was lifted more than fifteen feet off the ground by the  
force of the blow. He felt himself wavering in and out of  
consciousness for a moment and steeled himself as he hit the ground.  
Slowly, he rose to his feet again. "You'll pay for that," growled the  
boy angrily.  
  
++++++++++  
  
"Ryoga! What the hell are you doing?" cried Ranma as he watched  
the boy take everything Sagat could dish out.  
  
"No," said Ken quietly. "He's going to get himself killed! He's  
got too give up! There's nothing we can do unless he does!"  
  
"Idiot!" cried Ranma with a panicked look on his face.  
  
+++++++++  
  
Ryoga heard none of this, he only saw his target. The man had an  
angry looking scowl on his face as he beat on him from a distance with  
more of the flaming projectiles.  
  
Finally, Sagat stopped and glared at the boy hatefully. "This is  
impossible! I'll destroy him! Just die!" He rushed Ryoga, who was far  
too beaten to do much beyond stand there. "Tiger Rage!" Sagat  
performed the Tiger Uppercut, followed by a flying kick. At the end of  
the strike, his leg burst into flames, and Ryoga was shot across the  
arena, skidding to a halt across the dirt.  
  
Sagat glared down at the fallen boy and noticed a boy standing  
next to Ken masters crying out to him. He was pushing against the  
crowd to get out, but they blocked his way. He smirked and stared the  
boy down with his one good eye. He casually lifted the boy up by his  
head and held him aloft again. "Perhaps your friend would like too  
join you in the afterlife?"  
  
Ryoga's eyes flew open, he glared at Sagat hatefully. "I'm not  
beaten yet, I won't allow this too go on you monster!"  
  
"Impossible!" gasped Sagat in horror. There was no way he could  
still be conscious. There were obviously dozens of broken bones, and  
no one had ever recovered from his Tiger Rage attack. The boy was in  
no condition to speak, much less fight on. That was when Sagat  
realized that his hand was very warm.  
  
"Perfect..."  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma's eyes went wide as he saw the blue flame forming around  
Ryoga's body. "Oh shit." He slowly backed away from the edge of the  
crowd and bumped into Ken.  
  
"What the hell?" muttered the man as he watched Ryoga in shock.  
  
"We should leave," said Ranma as he pulled on his arm. "Right  
now."  
  
"Huh? Why? What's happening?" Ken blinked and looked around.  
Several of the martial artists were slowly backing away from the ring,  
some of the spectators had begun to realize something was up as well.  
"Uh-oh."  
  
+++++++++++  
  
Ryoga strained with effort as Sagat merely watched in petrified  
horror as the power flared around his fallen opponent. "...Hadoken!" A  
pillar of pure chi energy shot up from the boy's body, a massive wave  
that enveloped them both. Sagat screamed in pain and dropped the boy  
to the ground. Finally, the attack faded away. He stood up and glared  
down at the fallen boy for a moment hatefully.  
  
"I'll destroy you for that!" snarled the man.  
  
"Not over yet, heh," muttered Ryoga from his place on the ground.  
  
Sagat paused and noticed that the ringside was now vacant. "What?"  
He looked up, and wished that he hadn't. A chi ball the size of a  
mansion was descending down from the sky above, and it was far too  
late for him to run away. He put up his hands and screamed in horror.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
There was a flash of light from the arena, spectators were lifted off  
their feet and tossed as much as ten feet by the shock wave of the  
blast. After a moment, the light died down, and there was silence.  
  
Ranma stood watching the scene next to a group of fighters who had  
lost in earlier bouts.  
  
"What the hell was that?" muttered Guile.  
  
"The stupidest thing that idiot has ever done, that's what," said  
Ranma irritably.  
  
"A self destructive move," said Dhalsim calmly.  
  
"That moron, Hado energy doesn't work the same as his heavy ki.  
He'll be lucky to still be alive," said Ranma angrily. It was obvious  
that he was worried as well.  
  
"Come on!" said Ken as he rushed forward.  
  
Ranma was already ahead of him.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ryoga was lying next to the fallen Sagat, both of them were still  
smoking, and Sagat was out cold. The once proud looking statue that  
had rested beside the battleground was now nothing more than a few  
shattered stones scattered about the field. Fortunately, both men were  
still breathing.  
  
"You dope! You could have killed yourself!" snapped Ranma angrily.  
  
"Hey, Saotome..." gasped Ryoga.  
  
"What is it?" said the boy with a small sigh.  
  
"Remind me to never do that again," said Ryoga weakly.  
  
"I'd better not have too," retorted Ranma.  
  
Ryoga turned towards Ken and smiled as best he could. "Did I win?"  
  
"Naw, I'd call this one a draw," said Ken with a slight smirk as  
he looked down at the boy.  
  
"Damn," muttered Ryoga before he passed out.  
  
Ranma sighed and hefted him over his shoulder. "I'll take him over  
to where the injured are."  
  
"Right," said Ken as he looked back over his shoulder and saw that  
the crowd was slowly returning.  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs The World!  
  
Part 18  
  
The Final Bout!  
  
++++++++++++  
  
Ken stood opposite Ranma and smiled at the boy. "Well, I never  
expected you to make it this far."  
  
"I'm just full of surprises," said Ranma with a confident smirk on  
his face.  
  
"Well, I think I can enjoy this," said Ken as stepped back into a  
ready stance.  
  
"I hope so," agreed Ranma as he did the same.  
  
The pair faced off for a long moment, staring at each other  
motionlessly.  
  
Finally, Ranma spoke up. "You should go first."  
  
"No, I insist," said Ken cheerfully.  
  
"All right then, fine," said Ranma as he thrust his hands forward.  
"Hadoken!"  
  
Ken countered with the same move. "Hadoken!"  
  
Both blasts met in mid-air, canceling each other out. The pair was  
already in motion, they jumped towards one another meeting in the air.  
  
"Tatsumakisenpukayaku!"  
  
"Metsubo Ryu Kayaku!"  
  
The two moves collided, Ranma came in a little higher, and Ken was  
knocked out of the air. He rolled across the ground for a moment and  
was quickly back on his feet. "Not bad."  
  
Ranma charged forward, punching at the man fiercely.  
  
Ken backed away as fast as he could under the assault. It seemed  
as if there were hundreds of fists attempting to strike him at one  
time.  
  
"Damn! He's faster than I thought he'd be!" they both thought in  
unison as they backed away from each other.  
  
"Come on!" cried Ranma as he charged again.  
  
"Waitin on ya!" retorted Ken as he did the same. They passed by  
each other a few times, trading blows. Ken was obviously hit more, but  
he was also stronger than Ranma, so his counted more. In the end, it  
appeared to be somewhat of a stalemate.  
  
"You're strong kid, I'll give you that," said Ken as he stood  
opposite the boy. His breath was short, and he almost panted out the  
phrase.  
  
"You ain't so bad yourself, for an old timer," replied Ranma in  
much the same manner.  
  
"Right," said Ken with a slightly irritated frown. "I'll show you  
who's old kid."  
  
Ranma smiled to himself for a moment, his best poker face. "Got ya!"  
  
Ken charged forward in a flurry of motion, and Ranma suddenly  
closed himself up, going on the complete defensive.  
  
"What's the matter kid? You gettin tired?" said Ken. In his mind,  
warning bells were sounding. He knew the kid was up to something, that  
stupid grin should be enough to alert him to that, but his aura had  
gone completely silent suddenly.  
  
Ken stopped suddenly as they neared the center of the field.  
Unfortunately, it was too late.  
  
"Hiryuushoutenha!" cried Ranma as he punched upward with his arm.  
  
Ken managed to mutter a slightly confused sound before the  
whirlwind shot him high into the air above. He rolled up into a  
defensive ball immediately, closing his eyes and concentrating. Within  
a split second, he realized that the attack was powered by his own  
energy. In an instant, his aura had vanished as he closed his mind  
completely. No more than a few seconds later, he began to loose  
momentum.  
  
Ranma frowned as he looked up at the dwindling tornado. "Something is  
wrong, as much power as he had, this should have lasted a lot longer."  
  
As the last winds died down, he saw a red figure closing in on him  
from above. Ken had a wild grin on his face as he descended down from  
the sky above. "Hado..."  
  
Ranma's eyes went wide as he saw the chi buildup the man had  
tucked at his side. "Oh shit!"  
  
"KEN!"  
  
"Hiyaku Ryu ha Kiyoda!" cried Ranma as he jumped upward. His arm a  
blur of motion as he rose into the sky and slammed into his opponent  
just as the blast sailed out of his hands.  
  
Ranma passed through the Hadoken as if it wasn't there, and Ken's  
eyes went wide as he saw the boy's fist slam into his face, and then  
all over his body. "Damn!" He managed to get his arms up after the  
first blow, but the attack still took it's toll. He landed on his back  
hard and remained still for a moment. Then, he slowly groaned and sat  
upright. "That's good kid, you've already figured out one of the  
advantages of the Shoryuken."  
  
Ranma was patting himself down, looking for burn marks from the  
fireball. "I know it hit me," he muttered to himself.  
  
"Or maybe you haven't," said Ken with a slight chuckle as he  
struggled to his feet. "The Shoryuken is a powerful move, made even  
more so by the fact that it grants temporary immunity to most chi  
attacks."  
  
"What?" said Ranma dumbly as he looked at the man in shock.  
  
"At first I thought you had just managed to create a move that  
looked the same, and had almost as much power. Now I can see that  
you've managed to recreate something than no one has ever been able to  
recreate. Martial arts masters have attempted to copy my master's  
techniques for years. Generations even, you and your friend are the  
first to ever get it right." He chuckled and slowly staggered forward.  
"But now you learn a new lesson." He moved into a ready stance and  
stared Ranma down coldly.  
  
"Huh?" said the boy dumbly. "You still want to fight?"  
  
"Yup, there's one more thing you really need to know kid," said  
Ken with an evil looking grin forming on his face.  
  
"What's that?" asked Ranma as he returned to a combat stance.  
  
"There are levels beyond both Hadoken and Shoryuken, you've only  
learned the basics of a much greater art," said the man as he rushed  
forward.  
  
"No way!" gasped Ranma as he backed away. He could feel the  
immense power emanating from the man.  
  
"Shoryureppa!" A shadow-like image formed behind Ken's body as he  
performed three consecutive dragon punches in a row, slamming into  
Ranma repeatedly.  
  
The boy was tossed into the air like a rag doll, when he came  
down, Ken stood over him and offered him his hand.  
  
"You've already managed variations on the techniques, that says  
something for you. If you really want to beat me next time, you're  
going to have to push it further than that."  
  
Ranma accepted the man's hand and allowed himself to be carried  
off the arena.  
  
They passed by Ryu, who was waiting at the edge of the ring.  
  
The Japanese man spoke up, turning towards his old friend. "So, it  
doesn't look like we'll get to compete this time."  
  
"I'm afraid not," agreed Ken. "I'm in no condition for you."  
  
"Next time then," said Ryu with a slight nod. Ranma noticed that  
he was looking directly at him when he said that.  
  
"Who was he talkin to?" said the boy dumbly as he looked up at  
Ken.  
  
"Both of us most likely," said Ken with a small shrug. "He  
appreciates a good fighter."  
  
"Right," muttered Ranma with a small sigh.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Ryu stood in the center of the arena, his arms crossed in front of  
his chest. "Looks like I'm all that's left."  
  
"Indeed," said the booming voice of Bison from several  
loudspeakers. The ground slowly opened up, and the massive man rose  
from the earth dramatically. This time he was standing, and had a long  
cape draped across his shoulders. He casually tossed it aside and  
walked out into the arena. "It seems that you are the one worthy of  
facing me."  
  
"Looks like," agreed Ryu calmly.  
  
"Are you prepared fighter, are you ready to meet your fate? I will  
destroy your mind and soul, and your power will become mine," said  
Bison coldly.  
  
"You've got to beat me first. That's all I'm interested in,"  
replied Ryu as he took up a stance.  
  
"Hmmm, a worthy opponent indeed," said Bison as he put up his  
hands. A strange aura began to burn across his fingers, and eventually  
spread across his whole body. "My Psycho Power is more than enough to  
destroy you."  
  
"You sure talk a lot," commented Ryu.  
  
Bison frowned and nodded his head. "I see, we shall begin then!"  
  
Ryu gasped as the man vanished from in front of him and appeared  
behind him. He felt an intense burning pain as Bison slammed his fist  
into the side of his body. He was thrown across the arena and into a  
large stone that had once been a part of the great statue.  
  
"No sport at all," said Bison as he slid across the ground and  
attempted to clip Ryu as he passed. The martial artist rolled away and  
got back on his feet.  
  
"There, you're standing again! Much better!" said Bison as he  
appeared next to the man. "You'll die now!"  
  
Ryu had anticipated this though. "Tatsumakisenpukayaku!"  
  
Bison reeled as the man's foot repeatedly slammed into his face.  
He staggered for a moment, and then growled. His eyes began to glow  
with power as he snarled at Ryu angrily.  
  
"You have made me very angry," said Bison as he slowly stalked  
forward, his aura grew with each passing moment.  
  
Ryu backed away, watching the man closely. Finally, Bison went on  
the offensive. He slid across the ground again, attempting to trip his  
opponent, but Ryu nimbly stepped aside. Unfortunately, Bison had  
anticipated this as well, and he sailed into the air, coming down on  
top of Ryu's head feet first.  
  
The martial artist grunted with effort as he moved himself out  
from underneath the man's feet and rolled away. Bison was forced to  
jump back as Ryu moved and made it difficult to balance where he had  
been standing.  
  
"Come on!" snarled the madman as he glared at Ryu hatefully.  
  
The martial artist simply moved back into a stance again, putting  
his fists up and waiting.  
  
Bison snorted in disgust and charged forward again. Ryu prepared  
to duck, ready for another one of his sliding attacks. He didn't  
expect what happened though. Bison flipped and kicked him as he  
continued to move forward.  
  
Ryu was forced back, but the move did not do as much damage as the  
evil madman had hoped. Ryu thrust his hands forward and released his  
power. "Hadoken!"  
  
The evil general staggered under the force of the blow, but was  
not really harmed by the strike. His aura had protected him from most  
of the force behind the attack. "You'll have to do better than that,  
boy!"  
  
Ryu was already moving forward, he closed in as his opponent was  
finishing his taunt. "Shoryuken!"  
  
This time, the force of the attack floored Bison. He remained on  
the ground for a moment and shook his head. "That hurt."  
  
"Yup," said Ryu calmly as he waited for the man to get up again.  
  
Instead of picking himself up, Bison merely floated back to his  
feet again, as if his feet were on hinges in the ground.  
  
"Taste my true power! Psycho Crusher!" Bison blasted forward with  
a powerful dark energy pouring from his body. "Nothing can harm me! I  
am all powerful!"  
  
"I think you're wrong," said Ryu calmly as he reacted to the  
attack. "SHINKU HADOKEN!"  
  
Bison's eyes went wide as the massive wave of energy slammed into  
his attack, halting his forward momentum, and washing away the dark  
energy like a raging torrent of water. He screamed as his final layer  
of defense fell away, and the attack struck home. "This cannot be!"  
  
Ryu stood, staring down at the evil man for a moment. He turned  
and looked up at the sky. Several helicopters were approaching, all of  
them had Interpol markings on them. He snorted and turned away,  
walking in a random direction. After a moment he paused and cocked his  
head. "I'm hungry. I wonder if there's a good place to eat around  
here?" With that said, he walked off into the sunset.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
"What do you mean he ain't here?" said Ranma as he looked at Ken.  
  
"He must have taken off, he isn't here," said Ken with a shrug.  
  
"But, this is the awards ceremony!" said Ranma. "How can he not be  
here?"  
  
"I dunno, he doesn't like this sort of thing," said the man  
calmly. He was standing next to Ryoga, who had a third place trophy in  
his arms.  
  
"Damn you Ranma! You mean we came all this way, and we didn't even  
get to talk to him?" snarled Ryoga angrily as he heard the news.  
  
"Shut up! We got what we came after!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"You mean I got what I came after," said Ryoga as he held up his  
trophy.  
  
"We didn't come here for that crap!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"I've finally proven that I'm better than you! Admit it!" snapped  
Ryoga angrily.  
  
"The hell you are!" retorted Ranma. "If you want to have it out  
right here, I'll be glad to settle this now!"  
  
"How dare you threaten an injured man that way!" snapped Ryoga as  
he pointed out the fact that his arm was in a sling, and his entire  
chest was bandaged.  
  
"Just you wait until you get better Porky! I'm gonna kick your but  
and prove you wrong!" snapped Ranma as he grabbed the lost boy by his  
collar.  
  
"Man, and I thought me and Ryu used to be bad," muttered Ken with  
a heavy sigh. "Well, I'll see you guys later. I've got a plane to  
catch."  
  
Ranma and Ryoga paused and looked at the man dumbly for a moment.  
"Oh yeah, we should go home now," muttered Ryoga.  
  
"Right," agreed Ranma dumbly.  
  
Ken laughed and pat them both on the back. "Just remember to  
practice. I want a good match the next time I see you two."  
  
"Ouch!" cried Ryoga painfully.  
  
"Heh, sorry," said Ken as he walked away and gave them a small  
wave.  
  
"Well, that's that," said Ranma as he pulled his backpack up and  
hoisted it onto his shoulders.  
  
Ryoga paused and looked down at a small slip of paper that fell  
out. "Hey, what's this?"  
  
"Huh? I dunno, probably some trash or something. There were a lot  
of people here."  
  
Ryoga's eyes went wide as he stared down at what appeared to be a  
neatly folded piece of paper. He slowly unfolded it and began to read  
out loud. "I Ranma Saotome, and I Ryoga Hibiki, do solemnly swear that  
our two children, if they be born of opposite sex, shall be engaged to  
marry, and thus unite the Saotome and Hibiki lines..."  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly as he looked over the boy's shoulder.  
"What is this? Some kind of joke?"  
  
"Ranma! This is my signature! How dare you take my word of honor  
like this!" snapped Ryoga angrily.  
  
"Hey! I don't remember signing this thing!" cried Ranma  
defensively.  
  
Ryoga blinked as a memory popped inside his head. Ranma did  
exactly the same.  
  
"Hey, I remember now..." said Ranma.  
  
"That bar..." muttered Ryoga in horror.  
  
"Great, Akane's gonna kill me," grumbled Ranma as he hung his  
head.  
  
"AKANE! The hell she will! This is all your fault, Saotome!  
Prepare to die!"  
  
"What? My fault! You were as drunk as me, Piggy!" cried Ranma as  
he took off running.  
  
"And now you insult me! Coward, come back and take your beating  
like a man!" snarled Ryoga as he jogged after him.  
  
"How dare you take away my child's purity that way!" cried Ryoga.  
  
"What about my kid, huh?" retorted Ranma.  
  
"Your child? First you steal Akane away, and now my unborn child!"  
snapped Ryoga angrily.  
  
"Calm down!" cried Ranma.  
  
"The hell I will! Because of you, my child will see hell!"  
  
And thus, they vanished over the horizon, and into the sunset.  
  
"Cut it out you stupid jerk.  
  
+++++++++++++  
  
Ranma vs. The World  
  
Epilogue  
  
+++++++++++  
  
"Tendo, Bringing Ryoga back from China. Ranma."  
  
"Oh, how I've waited for this day!" cried Soun happily.  
  
"Quite so, Tendo," agreed Genma from beside him.  
  
"That jerk! He's late!" snarled Akane as she sat at the table  
looking angry.  
  
Akari sat beside her, smiling cheerfully. "Don't worry. I'm sure  
they'll be here soon!"  
  
"Yeah, but soon to her is like weeks," commented Nabiki.  
  
Everyone looked at her for a moment and frowned.  
  
"Oh come on, let's not be stupid. We all know who her boyfriend  
is," said Nabiki as she rolled her eyes.  
  
Everyone nodded in embarrassed agreement and looked away from  
Akari. She was simply sitting blissfully.  
  
Genma leaned in to his old friend and whispered secretively.  
"Tendo, you did remember to book the minister?"  
  
"He's on the speed dial, Saotome! Available twenty four hours a  
day!" said the man giddily in reply.  
  
"Excellent, as soon as the boy returns, we'll finally unite the  
families!"  
  
"Yes, he and my little Akane will be so happy to see each other,  
that they won't even notice it's happening to them!" said Soun with a  
slightly evil chuckle.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Meanwhile...  
  
"How the hell did we end up in Kyoto!?" snapped Ranma as he glared  
at his traveling companion.  
  
"You should know better than to give me the map by now!" retorted  
Ryoga angrily.  
  
Ranma sighed and hung his head. "Yeah, you're right. Come on,  
let's just go."  
  
"Sure thing, you child stealer," said Ryoga grumpily.  
  
"Oh will you just drop it! That's as much your fault as it is  
mine!"  
  
Ryoga paused and shifted uncomfortably. "Ranma, we aren't going to  
tell Akari and Akane about this, are we?"  
  
Ranma looked at the boy, put on his most honorable face, and  
smiled. "Ryoga, of course." He then smacked the boy on the side of his  
head. "What are you nuts? Those two will kill us!"  
  
Ryoga shuddered. "I'd kinda like to be able to have children one  
day."  
  
"Then it's agreed," said the pigtailed boy with a small nod.  
  
"Yeah, not a word until the time comes," said Ryoga with a small  
sigh.  
  
"Right, come on then," said Ranma as he continued to stroll down  
the wooded path they found themselves on.  
  
Ryoga paused and shivered suddenly. "Ranma, stop."  
  
"Huh? What is it?" said the pigtailed boy obliviously.  
  
"I...feel something." Ranma turned and saw Ryoga looking around  
nervously.  
  
"What the heck are you tal..." That was when he realized that he  
also sensed it.  
  
"Who's there? Come out and show yourself!" cried Ryoga.  
  
"I have been waiting for you," said a booming voice.  
  
The sky suddenly darkened, and lightening crashed across the  
darkness. The pair stood back to back, searching their surroundings  
for the intruder.  
  
Finally, a shadowy figure stepped out into the open. His eyes  
glowed with a hateful power.  
  
"Who? The guy from Thailand?" muttered Ranma in shock.  
  
The figure laughed, a cold and cruel sound.  
  
"I have been watching you from afar, waiting until you were worthy  
enough to face me. One of you would be no challenge, but the two of  
you together..."  
  
"No," said Ryoga in answer to Ranma's question. "This guy is  
different. The power is just as strong, but different."  
  
"Who are you?" said Ranma as he stepped forward confidently.  
  
"I...am power made flesh," snarled the man as he stepped forward  
into the light.  
  
"Whoa!" gasped Ranma as he stepped back. The man was massive, he  
had dark skin and red hair. A string of thick beads hung around his  
neck, and his clothing was a dark purple dogi with the sleeves torn  
off.  
  
"Are you prepared to meet your destiny?" asked the thing.  
  
"I got places to be pal! I'm late enough as it is!" snapped Ranma.  
  
"Ranma, this is what's been following us! I've felt this before!"  
said Ryoga nervously.  
  
"Come, if you wish to return home, you must pass through me," said  
the thing as he took up a stance.  
  
"Fine," said Ranma as he moved into a stance.  
  
"Ready, Saotome?" said Ryoga as he took up a position beside the  
boy.  
  
"Get him!" cried Ranma as he charged forward.  
  
The thing slid across the ground, seeming to pass right through  
Ranma. It slammed it's fist into Ryoga's face and then spun into a  
spinning kick that knocked the lost boy off of his feet.  
  
Ryoga landed and rolled on the ground, clutching his chest in  
pain. "Damn!"  
  
Ranma gasped. "No way! How?"  
  
The thing turned to face him and snarled. It thrust it's hands  
forward and shot a fireball at him with only a grunt of effort.  
  
"Hadoken!" cried Ranma as he countered, but the thing had jumped  
into the air and threw two more at him, both of them slammed into his  
body, causing him to fall to the ground as a dark flame of power  
burned around him.  
  
The thing wasn't finished yet, it charged forward just as Ryoga  
was standing up and slammed it's fist into his gut. It then performed  
a shoryuken, only grunting with slight effort to perform it.  
  
"Ryoga!" cried Ranma as he rushed to his companion's aid. "If you  
want to fight, I'll be your opponent!"  
  
"Heh," said the thing as it vanished as Ranma kicked at it. Ranma  
found himself surrounded by several images of the creature.  
  
"I've seen this trick before!" snarled Ranma with a frown forming  
on his face.  
  
Ranma jumped straight up and flipped back in mid-air.  
"Metsuboryukayaku!" He slammed into one of the images and met with  
nothing but air. "No way!" he gasped as he realized that he had  
missed.  
  
The thing appeared in front of him and backhanded him across his  
face, sending him sprawling across the ground.  
  
"Ranma! No one gets to kill you until I do!" snarled Ryoga as he  
unleashed a hadoken on the thing from behind. It simply faded out of  
existence and reappeared after the projectile had passed. With an  
almost casual air, it raised it's palm and blasted the lost boy in his  
chest, sending him flying into a nearby tree.  
  
"You are too weak to survive!" said the thing as it lifted Ranma  
up by his collar. It sneered at him, revealing rows of sharp teeth  
behind its lips.  
  
Ranma hung in the thing's grasp, helpless to do anything about the  
power build up that was coming from the creature. He closed his eyes,  
and waited. "I can't die! Not like this!"  
  
"Mesatsu..."  
  
Two voices cried out from behind them, the creature dropped him  
and vanished into thin air. Ranma screamed in pain as two fireballs  
slammed into his body. He fell to the ground, and opened his eyes  
slowly. He saw a familiar figure standing over him, looking down.  
  
"Are you all right?" said the man gently.  
  
"Ryu?" muttered Ranma in confusion.  
  
"That's right, I wasn't expecting too see you again so soon," said  
the man with a small nod.  
  
Ryoga was standing up from where he had landed when the creature  
had blasted him. He lowered his hand and gasped for breath, the  
hadoken had taken away almost all the energy he had left. He hobbled  
over painfully, and turned to Ryu. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Following him," said the man with a small shrug. "It seems my  
travels are random, but I can feel his presence as much as you can."  
  
"You're trying to fight that thing?" said Ranma in confusion.  
  
"Eventually," said Ryu with a light smirk forming on his face.  
"When I feel ready, I will."  
  
"To avenge your master?" said Ryoga with a slight nod of  
understanding.  
  
"No, because he's stronger than I am," said Ryu with a simple  
shrug.  
  
"Oh," said Ranma in confusion. "He's after us now."  
  
"Don't worry, he rarely fights the same people twice. If he  
challenges you again, it'll be when he thinks you're strong enough.  
This was just a test."  
  
"Huh?" said Ranma dumbly.  
  
"He did the same thing to me," said Ryu as he stood up and pulled  
his traveling bag over his shoulder. With that said, he walked off,  
leaving them alone.  
  
Ryoga simply watched him go silently.  
  
Ranma stepped after him. "Wait! I..."  
  
The lost boy put his hand on Ranma's shoulder and shook his head.  
"It's obvious that we have no choice but to become stronger, Ranma."  
  
The pigtailed boy simply looked at him and then nodded. "Come on,  
let's go home."  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
Just outside the Tendo dojo, three days later...  
  
"Well, we made it," said Ranma with a slight smirk on his face as  
he looked at the wooden gates. "You ready?"  
  
"Do I have an option?" asked Ryoga irritably. He looked at Ranma  
and shrugged his shoulders. "I wanna see Akari again."  
  
Ranma sighed and nodded. "Well, it seems we'd better get this over  
with then."  
  
"I wonder where they have the minister hiding this time?" said  
Ranma as he glanced around the street absently.  
  
"I'm sure you can handle that," said Ryoga with a slight nod.  
  
"Right," agreed Ranma. "I may decide to show Pop some of what I  
learned."  
  
The two boys grinned at each other for a moment, and then opened  
the gates.  
  
++++++++++++++  
  
The End.  
  
Moves List For Ranma and Ryoga's New Techniques:  
  
Ranma : Metsubo Ryu Kayaku = Falling Dragon Kick  
  
A reverse Dragon Punch.  
  
Hiyaku Ryu Ha Kiyoda = Hundred Dragon's Teeth Blow  
  
A combination of the Shoryuken, and the Chestnut Fist.  
  
Ryoga : Hikidasu Jimen Hado: Discharge Ground Hado  
  
Ryoga creates a pillar of chi energy that shoots straight up  
from the ground in front of him.  
  
That's it, every other move is either in the Street Fighter Games,  
or in the Ranma 1/2 show.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
